Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

After her father is killed by a shark, a paranormal talk show host (Winona Ryder) returns to the haunted house of her youth and must confront her estranged daughter (Jenna Ortega) but also the 600 year old ghost (Michael Keaton) who traumatized her as a teenager.  Directed by Tim Burton (ED WOOD). Is it a good idea to do a sequel some 36 years after the original movie? I'm not convinced. This sequel to the 1988 film is a mixed bag. The returning cast members (in addition to Keaton and Ryder, Catherine O'Hara returns as the stepmother) are up for it and they're all wonderful but some of the new characters like Ortega and Justin Theroux are pretty lame. Of the new characters, Willem Dafoe as a deceased actor and Monica Bellucci as a dismembered wife bring some fresh energy to the proceedings. There are a couple of homages that are amusing: the baby from IT'S ALIVE and a B&W tribute to Mario Bava. But director Burton isn't as fresh as he was in 1988. If it worked then, he'll do it again. The hilarious Banana Boat Song musical sequence in the 1988 movie is recycled but with MacArthur Park this time and it's fun ..... for about 30 seconds but we have to listen to the whole song! With Danny DeVito and Arthur Conti.