Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

⭐⭐⭐ ⭐

WOW. The juice is loose and having even more fun than the first round! So buckle up mortals, because this sequel is hilarious and delightfully disgusting. With a healthy budget, the special effects are perfectly grotesque matched with director Tim Burton’s love of claymation.

Michael Keaton leads a stacked cast of comedians who seem to be having the time of their lives… or is it afterlives? With just enough references to the beloved 1988 original, this sequel breathes enough fresh life to stand on its own. And boy does it stand tall. Quick. Witty. Funny. It zipped by at a clip.

The set design transports us right back into Tim Burton’s fictional Winter River, Connecticut, where we first met the Deetz family and our ghost with the most. The underworld hasn’t aged a day - there’s nothing more timeless then death.

Admittedly, there are one too many story lines happening. Luckily, the details are simple enough to digest and carry on. Fans of Catherine O’Hara’s Moira Rose will love her predecessor, Delia, an eccentric artist in all senses of the word.

In a world where sequels feel the need to “jump the shark” and raise the stakes, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE keeps things delightfully centered. Dead centered.