Without having seen the original 1988 dark comedy, I went to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel that director Tim Burton and actor Michael Keaton have been trying to get off the ground since the original debuted 30 years ago. While the reviews have certainly trended on the positive side, it’s a bit more of a mixed bag from my perspective. 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice stars returning actors Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder as Delia and Lydia Deetz, who are drawn back to their old home after the death of Charles Deetz. While there, Lydia fights through her trauma to build a better relationship with her daughter Astrid, played by Burton’s Wednesday star Jenna Ortega. Together they are eventually forced to embark on another journey through the afterlife to stay together as a family. 

There is a lot I like about this film, most notably on the more technical front. Burton reunites with his old collaborator Danny Elfman to deliver an amazingly retro and atmospheric score. The film has an opening sequence much more reminiscent of classic media, and the effects are immaculate. In an era of CGI, this film uses an abundance of practical effects and, to my surprise, stop-motion animation, which I never expected to see in a widely popular film again. On the technical side, Burton proves he hasn’t lost his touch. 

In addition, I thought the entire cast performed exceptionally well. I was nervous that Jenna Ortega was starting to get typecast in a goth supernatural teen role, but she plays quite well as the more skeptical Astrid. Justin Theroux is delightful as Lydia’s boyfriend, Rory. Willem Dafoe and Monica Bellucci make excellent additions to the afterlife with performances you can tell are just the actors having fun. Finally, returning stars Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton both knock it out of the park. Ryder brings an older, traumatized Lydia to life, and Keaton doesn’t miss a beat as the detestably hilarious Beetlejuice. Every line of his is delivered with perfect comedic timing, and despite having more screen time than he did in the original, he never overstays his welcome.

My biggest issues with this film are the plot and pacing. I think the first half is great. It’s a more emotional, personal story about Lydia dealing with her trauma from the last film, trying to connect with her daughter, and being able to see ghosts that no one else believes in. The small amount that the afterlife is used in the first half serves as the perfect balance, adding bits of comedy to spice up the story. 

However, the second half goes overboard into the comedic aspects that Beetlejuice and the afterlife bring to the film. After Astrid is tricked into going to the afterlife, the rest of the film is nonstop comedy. As a result, we get a precious few moments to refocus on the core of the film — Lydia and Astrid’s relationship. Even then, the moments we do get are almost always undercut by comedy whenever Beetlejuice or another character shows up. While Burton was more than happy to let these emotional moments play out in the first half, he overshadowed them with comedy in the second half in an incredibly jarring way.

In a sense, this film feels like two films mashed into one. The first half is a tender, emotional story about coming to terms with past trauma and reconnecting with your family, while the second half is a spooky comedy that seems allergic to sincerity. Does the film want to focus on the emotion of Lydia and Astrid’s relationship, or does it want to make us laugh with Beetlejuice running around making faces and inflating like a balloon?

I won’t deny that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is worth a watch, especially for the comedy. But, if you’re looking for a more meaningful story, you’re going to get a bit of tonal whiplash after the more soft-spoken first half. It doesn’t fully ruin the film, but it does make me long for the more emotional story we could have gotten.