Beetlejuice, Beetle-who?: A Newcomer’s Take to the Neitherworld
Walking into Beetlejuice Beetlejuice—Tim Burton’s decades-later sequel to his 1988 cult classic—I wasn’t carrying childhood nostalgia or reverence for the original. I hadn’t spent years quoting “It’s showtime!” or waiting breathlessly for Michael Keaton to slip back into the pinstriped suit. Instead, I arrived as a blank slate, ready to meet this beloved world for the first time. And what I found was an overstuffed, hyperactive film so steeped in its own legacy that it forgot to give newcomers a reason to care.
[Warning: spoilers from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice are below!]
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is bogged down by its past
The film picks up years after the original, with Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) now a mother to a rebellious teenager, Astrid (played by Jenna Ortega, who is perpetually cast as the moody Gen Z goth). When a death in the family brings the Deetzes back to their haunted hometown, the barrier between the living and the dead cracks open once again—prompting the inevitable return of the mischief-making “bio-exorcist,” Beetlejuice. What follows is a visual rollercoaster of undead bureaucracy, underworld politics, and generational baggage. Unfortunately, while the film has the bones of a compelling story, it ends up so bloated and scattered that none of its threads land with emotional weight.
Michael Keaton reprises his role as the demonic spirit with infectious glee, but the script gives him surprisingly little to do beyond recycling old gags and mugging for the camera. For a character that was once chaotic in the best way, his return feels weirdly subdued—like a mascot dragged out for fan service rather than an actual narrative engine. Without the benefit of surprise or a clear arc, Beetlejuice becomes a constant presence that quickly wears thin. The film appears to be aware of this, frequently sidelining him in favor of subplots involving ghost detectives (Willem Dafoe), demonic weddings, and a convoluted legal system for the deceased.
Then there’s Lydia, who was arguably the emotional anchor of the original film. Here, she’s rendered more of a passive figure, her edge dulled and her motivations vague. Her dynamic with her daughter Astrid could have provided real thematic depth—a meditation on inherited trauma, or the weight of growing up haunted both literally and figuratively—but the film only brushes the surface. Ortega, while competent, is left to play a familiar archetype with little material to stretch into something new. Their relationship, which should form the heart of the story, feels perfunctory at best.
Uneven pacing ultimately undermines Tim Burton’s vision
Visually, the film is Tim Burton at his most exuberant. Practical effects mix with CGI to create a whimsical, grotesque afterlife full of stop-motion creatures and twisted architecture. For brief moments, it’s easy to see what longtime fans adore: the tactile oddness, the loopy rules of the dead, the grimly comic tone. But these moments are stitched together with such manic pacing that nothing resonates. Scenes leap from one to the next without room to breathe, and any attempt at genuine emotion is drowned out by another bizarre set piece or loud visual gag.
As someone unfamiliar with the original, I found myself constantly wondering: what’s the point of all this? Is it meant to introduce a new audience to Beetlejuice’s world, or simply let longtime fans revel in its return? The answer, it seems, leans heavily toward the latter. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice plays like a fan convention come to life—packed with Easter eggs, callbacks, and references that will reward the initiated but leave everyone else scrambling to keep up.
In the end, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a film too in love with its own mythology to realize how inaccessible it’s become. There’s plenty of visual invention, and a few scattered laughs, but for anyone not already under its spell, it’s a frantic, hollow spectacle—like watching someone else’s inside joke drag on for two hours. If this is your first trip to the Neitherworld, don’t be surprised if you leave wondering what all the fuss was about.
The juice is loose, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is streaming on HBO Max! Have you seen this movie before? How do you think this adds up to the original film or the musical? Would you like a third film in the series? Let us know your thoughts @BoxSeatBabes on all social media platforms!
Beetlejuice Review: Revisiting a Tim Burton Classic
