All-star cast can’t save new film

play

The new “Beetlejuice” is a shadow of its former self.

Michael Keaton’s eponymous trickster demon took hold of our pop-culture hearts 36 years ago, propelling director Tim Burton’s utterly gonzo fantasy onto the big screen in a genre-busting horror-comedy unlike anything anyone had seen before. (The 1988 classic also introduced a generation of kids to the quaint beauty of scary movies.) The sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Friday) has a big heart and fleeting moments of inspired fun, often featuring Keaton’s moldy visage as the menace. Compared to the brilliant original, though, the overstuffed sequel lacks the same unhinged, madcap magic.

Though uneven, the film finds Burton back in the business of creating spooky spectacles, while creating interesting echoes between the two films: Harry Belafonte singing “Day-O,” for example, is the signature riff from the first “Beetlejuice,” while pop epic “MacArthur Park” plays to a similar tune here. And while Winona Ryder, as Lydia Deetz, was Miss Goth Teen 1988, Jenna Ortega is perfectly cast decades later as daughter Astrid, her rebellious heir to the throne.

Come to our viewing party! Sign up to get USA TODAY’s movie and TV recommendations delivered straight to your inbox

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is largely about the estrangement between mother and daughter. Lydia, whom Beetlejuice tried to marry back in the day, is still plagued by occasional visions of the weirdo now that she’s a TV celebrity. But she’s not in the best of emotional states, and neither is Astrid, an environmentally conscious boarding school student who rejects her mother’s psychic powers. Especially since, despite all the ghosts and specters Lydia can see, the one she can’t see is the ghost of Astrid’s dead father.

Another family tragedy brings them and Lydia’s eccentric stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) back together in their old Connecticut haunt, Winter River. That detailed model of the picturesque village still sits in the attic of the Deetz home, where Beetlejuice used to hang out until you said his name three times. He’s called back, of course: a desperate Lydia enlists his help when Astrid finds herself in the afterlife, possibly for good.

Beetlejuice has problems of his own. Now working a desk job in the afterlife, he’s also being hunted by his ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci), the undead leader of a death cult who’s reassembled her mutilated body for a mission of revenge. Compared to his old love, Keaton’s striped weirdo feels less dangerous this time around, but he’s still a bizarrely gleeful wonder of physical gags and verbal zingers. (As good as Keaton was as the best Batman, Beetlejuice will always be his biggest hit.)

Justin Theroux enters the world of “Beetlejuice” as Lydia’s dimwitted manager/boyfriend Rory, and Willem Dafoe has a blast as Wolf Jackson, a former action movie star turned over-the-top Afterlife agent. But everyone in this movie gets a subplot, even supporting characters like Beetlejuice’s shrunken sidekick Bob.

The film is an overcomplicated attempt compared to the first, which nailed the relatively simple plot of a recently deceased couple trying to get rid of the pesky new owners of their home. (Although original stars Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin don’t return, their characters are mentioned. Also missing is Jeffrey Jones, now a registered sex offender, though Burton creatively reprises his role, Lydia’s father Charles, in the new film.)

Burton has nicely fleshed out the checkerboard, sandworm-infested madness of the afterlife, even throwing in a groovilicious soul train. There’s also a nice little black-and-white Italian horror-infused section where Burton channels his inner Mario Bava.

Ryder and Ortega are key in keeping “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” on track: Astrid must find common ground with her mother, and Delia reminds Lydia that she needs to rediscover “the annoying little goth girl” she used to be. And yet, the long-awaited sequel can’t pull off the trick that “Top Gun: Maverick” did so well, finding a way to combine the fresh and the familiar after so long.

While the afterlife remains a seriously cool place to visit, the least Burton and co. could have done was to bring the “spirit with the most” out of its grave for a better story than this. But if this “Beetlejuice” inspires a few of Ortega’s young “Wednesday” fans to try more horror, just like it did in 1988, it might be a win.