Beetlejuice Beetlejuice review: Tim Burton’s nostalgia trip is macabre, goofy and over the top

Macabre, goofy and unable to follow its own internal logic? That’s Beetlejuice! Both of them, in fact.

You almost don’t expect the 36-years-in-the-making sequel to make sense because it’s not as though the original 1988 film was logically plotted. Sensible is anathema to the kaleidoscopic mania of Beetlejuice.

If ever there was a “you just have to go with it” movie, this is it.

Trying to sort through its myriad plotlines, characters and where they’re supposed to be at any point will only lead to a black chequerboard headache in which everything goes out of focus and you can no longer see the lines.

Tim Burton is relying on you not thinking too hard about it and allowing a sensory experience to wash over you. If you do, there’s plenty to like.

For one thing, it’s genuinely funny, especially the comedic genius of Catherine O’Hara who can make any line zing as if it’s the most glorious marriage of words and delivery. Always more O’Hara, please.

She’s not the only one. Willem Dafoe is a delight as an underworld law enforcement chief who in life had been an actor on a popular detective show, which, of course, uniquely qualifies him to keep pretending to be a detective in the ghost realm. It’s a hammy performance in the best possible way.

The film is a tickly combination of gonzo grotesquery and whimsical fantasy, always doing one more than it needs to in its pursuit of maximalism. We wouldn’t expect anything less.

It’s inevitable that in the intervening decades, the love and appreciation for the character of Beetlejuice has influenced the way the chaos agent has morphed from villain to anti-hero. There’s a lot more of Beetlejuice this time around, taking up much more of the screen time than the original’s surprisingly judicious use of him.

The character is brash, inappropriate and more than a little bit of a sex pest – remember, this was a centuries-old spectre trying to make a child bride out of Ryder’s then-teenage character.

Speaking of, the story kicks off with the onscreen death of Charles Deetz, the gormless patriarch from the original film, perhaps necessitated by the offscreen drama of actor Jeffrey Jones who in 2003 had been convicted of soliciting a 14-year-old boy for sexually explicit images.

This makes Jones’ involvement in the sequel untenable and director Tim Burton gets away with it by recasting the actor with his likeness in stop-motion animation, and then later as a headless ghost spouting blood.

Charles’ death reunites the three generations of Deetz women – Lydia (Winona Ryder), now a host of a ghost-hunting TV show, Delia (O’Hara), her stepmother whose artistic endeavours have taken on a Marina Abramovic edge, and Astrid (Jenna Ortega), Lydia’s teen daughter who is every bit the depressed goth her mother was, but with added social justice angst.

There’s also Justin Theroux’s character of Rory, Lydia’s TV producer and boyfriend who basically has slimy stamped on his forehead.

The three return to Winter River for Charles’ funeral and to pack up the old house. But the Juice is accidentally and intentionally set loose when other complications arise, including the threats in the form of Dolores (Monica Bellucci), a soul-sucking ghoul and Beetlejuice’s vengeful ex-wife.

The Dolores character is wholly unnecessary and Bellucci is given nothing to do but spookily glide about. It’s symbolic of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s tendency to overcomplicate things by introducing too many elements when peril already exists.

It really took to heart the tagline of the ghost with the most. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is definitely doing the most it can.

At times, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feels like an amped version of a theme-park ride as it takes audiences back through its twisted underworld with eye-popping set-pieces that evoke giddiness in fans.

But it doesn’t necessarily add too much to the story. It’s just a bit of razzle and dazzle, including a couple of musical numbers.

When it comes to emotional heft, it lies in the fractured relationship between Lydia and Astrid, who have fallen out since the death of Astrid’s dad (Santiago Cabrera) some years earlier.

Ryder and Ortega are very affecting in these scenes and there’s not enough of them.

Instead, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is content to throw glitter and guts in the air, mix it up and see what ghastly concoctions form. It’s purely a nostalgia piece, but what more did you want?

Rating: 3/5

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in cinemas on September 5