When I found out that there was going to be a sequel to one of my favorite horror comedies, “Beetlejuice” (1988) I was… nervous. So often, we are force-fed sequels to movies that are really only cash-grabs for the companies and producers. 

Watching sequels that have no heart or spark like the originals do is an upsetting cycle we find ourselves in, but “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (2024) might be different. In this reviewer’s opinion, the film is a pretty okay sequel to the original, and it actually has some spark.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the plot of the film. It’s not just a rehash of the original story; there are many new characters, as well as an expansion of the world we were introduced to in 1988. In the film, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is the host of a paranormal TV show and is estranged from her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who is skeptical of Lydia’s psychic abilities. 

After receiving tragic news from her step-mother Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara), Lydia takes Astrid and Delia back to Winter River, Conn., to deal with some unfinished business. There, Astrid meets a charming young man with a mysterious past, as Lydia deals with a certain ghost from her past (a Mr. Betleguese to be exact). In the afterlife, Mr. Betleguese (Michael Keaton) also has to deal with a ghost of his past. And, of course, they threw a seven-minute dance sequence into the film… because it’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”

Whew, if you couldn’t tell, there were many storylines going on at the same time. My quick summary was only about three fourths of all the storylines happening and intersecting in this film. However, don’t be fooled. Director Tim Burton somehow keeps all of these stories simple enough so as not to overwhelm. The film was not overwhelming. Gross and funny… but not overwhelming.

Now, my criticism for this film is open for debate, but I personally believe that the simplicity of each storyline made it so that each one was wrapped up too neatly by the end for my tastes. Every problem seemed to be solved within the last 10 minutes of the film, and then they pulled a last-minute switcheroo. It did leave a very small bad taste in my mouth. 

However, even with this small criticism, I believe that “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a very sound sequel that has a lot of the heart that the original “Beetlejuice” had. Tim Burton has given us an early spooky season present, and it is scarily good fun.