I come to Letterboxd a fan of Tim Burton’s, one who was temporarily lead astray for a few years and who came back. As a fan though, I have to admit his track record hasn’t been great in recent years. That track record breeded plenty of cynicism, something that muddled my expectations of this going in. I can report to you all here that I thankfully was wrong. Tim Burton answered and obliterated my “Why bother?” cynicism of a Beetlejuice sequel and more than exceeded my expectations. I learned many revelations from this. That a Beetlejuice sequel can thrive, that Tim Burton’s still got it when he’s allowed to cook, and that Weird Al’s song “Jurassic Park” is in fact a parody of a pre-existing song and not an original as previously thought.

The juice is loose and back and better than ever.

I do think the original still reigns supreme and that overall, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice didn’t have to exist but as stated above, my cynicism was proven wrong and I’m now really glad it does. Against all odds, with many things going against it, Tim Burton was able to recapture the twisted yet fun horror/comedy spirit of the original Beetlejuice while expanding upon the wonderfully weird world constructed in the first while utilizing an appropriate amount of callbacks to the first. May not be perfect, but it’s damn close to a perfect sequel as it doesn’t feel like a 100% retread of the first. I love that Burton was able to recapture his peak creative spirit and that CG was sparingly used in favor of practical effects makeup and very Burtonian puppets for the characters. And the humor, while held back a bit, was surprisingly raunchy and on par with the morbid sense of humor of the first. The returning cast, particularly Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice and Catherine O’Hara’s Delia, were great as were the newcomers Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, and a very at home and hilarious Willem DaFoe as Wolf Jackson. Also loved that this movie has continued the cinematic year of the sand worm. This is a solid continuation of the first and will make a great Beetlejuice double feature come October.

Watched at Regal Warrington with Grier, Jacob, and Jonny where someone decided to bring their infant to the showing. Because when I think of family viewings, I think of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.