Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceReviews Call the Sequel a Nostalgic 'Blast' with 'Just Enough Tim Burton Juice'

Mar. 15, 2025

Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.Photo:Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

The first reactions are in afterBeetlejuice Beetlejuice’sworld premiere.

On Wednesday, Aug. 28,Tim Burton’s highly anticipated sequel to the 1988 comedy-horrorBeetlejuiceopened the 81stVenice Film Festival, and critics are largely praising it for its solid nostalgia and fan service.

Deadline’s Stephanie Bunbury said the movie is “a blast just to watch” and that it works better in some places where the 1988 original proved “pretty clunky.”

Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

“These two worlds and the rules that enable characters to move between them remains an all-consuming pleasure,“IndieWire’s Sophie Monks Kaufman wrote in part in a review, granting it a B+. “Like a strong book-to-film adaptation, a strong sequel keeps the soul of the original while leaning into its own ideas.”

IGN’s Siddhant Adlakha noted its status as an “obligatory legacy sequel,” comparable to recent movies likeTop Gun: Maverick.“It’s a silly little sequel to an equally silly original, and it’s hard to imagine wanting or needing much more from it.”

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Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

WhileVariety’s Owen Glieberman called the new film “a lightweight riff on” the original movie, he wrote that he enjoyed the sequel on its own merits. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceis noBeetlejuice, but in the end it’s got just enough Burton juice.”

Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder and Justin Theroux in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.Parisa Taghizadeh/Warner Bros.

Parisa Taghizadeh/Warner Bros.

The sequel follows three generations of the Deetz family coming together after a tragic death as they move back to Winter River, where Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) was last conjured as he is reawakened again.

As well as Keaton,Winona RyderandCatherine O’Haraare also reprising their iconic roles, alongside newbiesJenna Ortega,Justin Theroux,Monica BellucciandWillem Dafoe.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceis is in theaters Sept. 6.

source: people.com