Willem Dafoe and lovely sets can't save Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from its worst impulses

When Staind lead vocalist Aaron Lewis crooned "It's been a while" back in March 2001, he might as well have been moviegoers talking about Tim Burton's artistic track record in 2024. It sure has "been a while" since Burton hit a creative home run like Ed Wood or Batman Returns.  In the 2010s, Burton dedicated himself to half-hearted remakes like Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows, and Dumbo. Such projects, like crummy 2000s Burton films like Planet of the Apes, were all too predictable. They were a far cry from enjoyably chaotic earlier Burton works like Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure or Mars Attacks. Watching something as dreadful as 2005'sCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, the days of peak Burton lunacy like penguin pallbearers were a distant memory.

After five years off from directing new theatrical motion pictures, Burton is back with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. After years of development, this sequel has finally come to the land of the living, and with no Hawaii-based shenanigans in sight. In returning to the land of macabre pestering demons, Burton restored some of his creative groove. However, like too many legacy sequels, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is torn between the old and the new. An enjoyably ooky and silly atmosphere can’t dilute the inescapably crowded aesthetic of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar’s screenplay.

More than three decades since the original Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) has struggled to put the past behind her. Even as she secures fame by hosting a popular reality ghost-hunting show, visions of ghosts still plague her daily life. She's also got to deal with creepily obsessed manager/lover Rory (Justin Theroux). Something she doesn't have? A good solid relationship with daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). Much like the previous Burton protagonist Ichabod Crane, Astrid has no time for spirits. She only believes in what she can see, which puts her at direct odds with her mom. Not helping matters is the passing of Astrid’s dad. That fatal event drove an even greater wedge between herself and her surviving parent.

The sudden tragic passing of Charles Deetz doesn't just reunite Astrid, Lydia, and the latter character's stepmother Delia (Catherine O'Hara). It also brings the gang back to the house where the first Beetlejuice took place. This means they're closer than ever to Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), who still harbors an undying (literally) crush on Lydia. His passion for Lydia only intensifies once a figure from his past, the dangerous Delores (Monica Bellucci), shows back up hankering for revenge. The worlds of the living and the dead can’t stay separated forever. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s story inevitably collides with these worlds to ghoulish results.

Ortega’s work as Astrid in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice doesn’t just reunite her with Burton after their Wednesday collaboration. Her role here, unfortunately, crystallizes the problems incredibly promising young actors face when signing up for these nostalgia-driven tentpoles. Once the plot shifts largely into the land of the dead, Astrid doesn’t have much to do. Ortega is resigned to either react to visual effects or function as a prop calling out for help to her fictional mother. Anyone who’s seen her outstanding The Fallout performance knows Ortega can carry a movie. Her work in X and the Scream movies, meanwhile, showed her deftness with horror.

Much like Dominique Fishback in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Rachel Zegler in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, or Kiersey Clemons in The Flash, Ortega in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is another incredibly gifted young performer sidelined in a major Hollywood blockbuster just to stoke the fires of nostalgia. The film industry’s obsession with the present is suffocating opportunities for new movie stars to make a name for themselves.

Granted, part of the problem with Ortega's screen time is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's overly crowded screenplay. This shortcoming hinders many corners of this sequel and often leaves the proceedings feeling the wrong the kind of breathless. This is a follow-up obsessed with giving every pre-existing character more screen time and subplots. There are so many plates to juggle, yet few of them get room to breathe.

On top of all that is a lot of pathos built on a new figure (Derek, Astrid’s deceased dad) who passed away in between the two Beetlejuice installments. The entire mother/daughter dynamic puzzlingly revolves around a relationship we’re only told about but don’t get to see. It’s hard to find emotional tangibility with a plotline audiences enter in media res. Also, what’s with the weird “kids these days” vibe with some of the jokes? A “modern” mom emphasizes she’s crafted "non-triggering" Halloween costumes. Rory is coded as a villain because he speaks in modern “trauma-conscious” verbiage. Folks glued to their phones are a punching bag in the climax. Such an odd running theme in a movie seemingly designed for teenage goths everywhere.

The disappointing role handed to Ortega and an overly packed screenplay drag Beetlejuice Beetlejuice down. On the other hand, there are chilling virtues bound to please both Tim Burton devotees and Spirit Halloween aficionados alike. Chiefly, the parade of visual gags centered around endlessly creative ways people passed away is a hoot. A charred Santa, a surfer cut in half, and a poor anti-drilling protestor are just a few of the entertaining ghosts populating the screen this go-around. It's also fun to see Burton back in Sleepy Hollow mode (albeit within firmly PG-13 confines) of reveling in some gruesome demises. A decade of Disney remakes seems to have increased this man's bloodlust for the better.

Meanwhile, the warped afterlife is executed (no pun intended) with terrific production design, costumes, and makeup work. Going old-school realizing this realm won’t just tickle the nostalgia bone of folks who’ve endlessly rewatched Beetlejuice. These qualities also make the various morbid sights extra thrilling to watch. Practical slime and blood are just so much more fun than digital substitutes.

Still, even Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's tug of war between 1988 and 2024 tendencies undercuts this positive facet.  Burton and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos captured this sequel with digital cameras such as the Sony CineAlta Venice 2. Opting for these styles of cameras and ultra-bright lighting removes some of the grimy charm of Beetlejuice's world. The blood remains, but even the titular demon isn't as dirty as he once was. The practical sets and effects work are impeccably done. However, they’re presented on-camera with a distractingly plastic sheen. 2024 cinematography conventions just don’t quite click with visual effects rooted in 1988.

For most moviegoers, though, these cinematography nuances or a flatter Danny Elfman score aren't especially important. Seeing Keaton and Ryder return to these roles for the first time in decades is what's critical. Rest assured the duo and other returning cast members like Catherine O'Hara deliver solid work. Keaton isn't doing anything innovative or new as Beetlejuice granted. Ten years after Birdman, there's something undeniably strange about Hollywood using that drama as a springboard to get Keaton to regurgitate all his famous characters. On the other hand, it's still sporadically amusing to see Keaton slip back into the role like nary a day has passed since the original Beetlejuice. Compare this comedically lively performance to Bill Murray's rigid return in the last two Ghostbusters movies and it's especially easy to appreciate Keaton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice charms.

Gough and Millar's scatterbrained screenwriting tendencies, though, don't give certain performers like Ryder, Bellucci, or (of course) Ortega as much meaningful material as they should. A little less time spent on arch-villain Rory and more time letting Ryder shine would've worked wonders. If any Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, actor truly crushes shines, though, it’s Willem Dafoe. One of our best character actors here portrays Wolf Jackson, a B-movie leading man turned into a detective in the Land of the Dead. In a movie often too gripped with reverence for the past, Dafoe’s character sparkles with comedic ingenuity. Gags centered on his obsession with "real" line deliveries or a trusty assistant always around with a cup of coffee are a delight. Plus, the persistently reliable Dafoe executes the character with such committed irony-free flair. His line deliveries mix steely determination and timid vulnerability so hysterically well.

“It’s been awhile” since a Burton movie had a performance as fun as Dafoe’s or production design as thrilling as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s sets. However, in trying to revel in the past and present, Burton has “stretched [himself] beyond [his] means.” Unlike the daddy issues-suffering protagonists of Big Fish or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Burton "cannot blame" Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's shortcomings "on [his] father." Actors like Keaton and Ryder "did the best [they] could for" this feature. It's just that not even the ghost with the most can avoid fatal problems plaguing so many modern legacy sequels.

Oh, and dear readers, "it's been awhile since I said I'm sorry" for all the strained Staind puns...though I can't promise I won't ever indulge in this nonsense again...