Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

In cinemas now

It’s easy to be dismissive of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, given that it is being released 26 years after its predecessor first introduced Michael Keaton’s boorish poltergeist. On face value, the film feels like no more than yet another instance of Hollywood reanimating the corpse of a dormant franchise in the hope that it will deliver a box-office smash. The interesting thing about Tim Burton’s sequel is that it proves those initial suspicions to be true while also being a serviceable follow-up to the original.

At no point during Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does it feel as if you are engaging with a story that has a purpose beyond rebooting a series which is zany enough to resonate with young and old audience members alike. Nonetheless, the performances of the returning Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara, coupled with the introduction of several memorable new cast members, mean this is about as much fun as a cash grab gets. 

The riotous Justin Theroux aside, it is Jenna Ortega who shines brightest among the debuting cast, with her involvement coinciding with the fact that the film’s screenplay is written by her and Burton’s Wednesday collaborators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Evidently, this gothic quartet is breathing new life into the career of a visionary director whose best days many had feared were behind him, with the use of his distinctive practical effects here reminding people of what made his early work so riveting.

While Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feels like more of a retread than a redefinition of what came before it, the outstanding box office returns it has so far enjoyed ($147m grossed from a $100m budget) shows that there is plenty of appetite for this sort of shtick, which means that we’re likely to see Keaton donning those iconic pinstripes again before long.