Tripwire Reviews Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Running Out Of Juice

Tripwire’s senior editor Andrew Colman takes a look at Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice out in cinemas now…

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe

At one point in his career, Tim Burton’s brand of quirky, slightly sinister gothic-lite was a welcome diversion from the staid, rather reactionary blandness of 1980s cinema – while many films about teens during that era focused on the angst-ridden outsider status of the leads, Burton’s protagonists were at home in their hermetically odd little space, content to be who they were – twee, cutely misshapen but never particularly at odds with the world.

At his best, Burton would occasionally stray from that realm with films like Mars Attacks! (a hyperkinetic, wonderfully disturbing and excessively violent ode to a remote corner of pop culture – perfect for Burton as depth was not required), Ed Wood and the Batman films. But even with the Batman flicks, there was always an air of campy disengagement, and a refusal to dig deep – both movies looked good, but were all surface.1999’s Sleepy Hollow was a competent slab of period horror that again only concerned itself with pastiche and how it looked, despite the impressive cast. But his 2003 entry, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was when the cracks began to show. What was the point of that charmless, servile remake, when there was already the 1971 classic? 2007’s Sweeney Todd, a better movie than some from his later period, again lacked heart (not surprising given the source material) while 2010’s Dark Shadows was Burton at his worst, an utter turkey of a movie that had no idea about what it was meant to be and was at best a self-indulgent pantomime.

So here we are with a sequel to one of his key movies. With Bonham-Carter and Depp out of the way, Burton no doubt saw this revival as an opportunity to re-enact old glories with old collaborators, but what we get is a whistle-stop tour of the original, replete with hair-trigger sight gags, silly asides, pointless pop culture references, vestigial subplots and a lot of overacting. On this occasion there’s no Baldwin or Davis, but Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara are back in the saddle, along with Willem Dafoe (barely comprehensible), Jenna Ortega (reprising her tiresome “I’m above all of this” act from Wednesday), Monica Bellucci and Justin Theroux.

The plot, such as it is, is this: Lydia (Ryder) is now a middle-aged host of a chat show about haunted houses (what else?). Her father dies, which due to various reasons means she has to get reacquainted with her daughter Astrid (Ortega) who doesn’t like her shifty partner Rory (Theroux), but then she’s not all that keen on anyone. Astrid runs away and befriends a loner called Jeremy (Arthur Conti) who promises her that she can be reunited with her deceased dad. One thing leads to another, and Lydia is forced to call in the demon Betelgeuse (Keaton, obviously) who demands her hand in marriage, cause, you know, the plot and stuff. And then all manner of hell and utter bilge ensues.

It’s not entirely without its merits, but as with Dark Shadows it’s a trite and somewhat lazy mess, with far too many plot holes, and a few half-baked and excruciating concepts that don’t exactly respect one’s intelligence. It has most of the same settings and cadences as the original, yet there’s so little to it that it could only be called a cash-in. That said there’s the magnificent Keaton, who at 73 still manages to be the livewire cartoon crazy of old – he could’ve done with better lines, and he is (as you’d expect) not onscreen for very long, but he’s good value. Kudos as well to Ryder for playing it straight and not camping it up horrendously like O’Hara and Theroux (less is more, Mr. Burton!).

It’s a fun if vacuous ride, and there are one or two absorbing if throwaway moments – plus if you’re a fan, it’s likely there’ll be a third instalment to look forward to (after all, they’re now calling Beetlejuice a franchise). What makes the movie presentable however is the goodwill it draws from the original. It doesn’t outstay its welcome, but it is instantly forgettable.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in cinemas now