--- title: "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/beetlejuice-beetlejuice/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/beetlejuice-beetlejuice" critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 67 from 11 reviews: 6 positive, 5 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics agree that Tim Burton has found his old appetite again, and that this is a legacy sequel built on practical effects and callbacks rather than polish. The praise clusters around Michael Keaton, whose energy is credited with carrying a tangled plot, and around Catherine O’Hara, singled out repeatedly for the funniest scenes. Several reviews warm to the mother-daughter story between Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega, and a few call it the most human thing Burton has made in years. The reservations are just as consistent: too many subplots, a slow start, and a sense that it is a good time rather than a match for the 1988 film. The spread is narrow, with nobody hostile. The sharpest dissent comes from the Los Angeles Times, which finds it manufactured and asks why it was summoned at all, while Sight and Sound thinks Keaton gets too little screen time for the film to go properly wild. ## The AV Club Rating B. 6 September 2024. Festival review. The sequel reinvigorates Tim Burton’s stale brand by returning to practical playfulness and the tangible strangeness of his early career, aided by a game returning cast. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2024. The sequel succeeds in capturing the manic energy of Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice and the original film's hyperstylised DNA. It is derivative yet pleasingly idiosyncratic, with gleefully silly moments and a fun, rough-around-the-edges approach that has a lot of fun trying to recapture the cult appeal of the 1988 film. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/sep/08/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-tim-burton-has-fun-with-pleasingly-idiosyncratic-sequel) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 28 August 2024. The film is fun if a bit messy, strongest when it embraces Burton's weird style and Keaton's energetic performance lifts the tangled narrative. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/beetlejuice-beetlejuice/) ## Total Film — James Mottram Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 28 August 2024. It offers enjoyable, inventive fun with visual flair and callbacks, but a wayward narrative means the belated sequel won't live too long in the memory. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/fantasy-movies/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review) ## Radio Times — James Mottram Rating 3/5. 28 August 2024. The enjoyable sequel recaptures much of the original’s ghoulish spirit and features some delicious moments, especially Delores’s entrance and the central mother-daughter relationship. It remains scattergun and throwaway overall, though visually striking and driven by Keaton’s larger-than-life performance. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review/) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 3/5. 29 August 2024. Festival review. Tim Burton’s return is a satisfying if woolly goth hokum ride, lit up by a bigger role for Michael Keaton and strong turns from Catherine O’Hara. It holds together through helter-skelter momentum despite some clangers and subplots that feel like a collage. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-2024) ## The i Paper — Christina Newland Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 4 September 2024. The critic finds it an enjoyably unhinged and goofy thrill ride but notes it lacks the original's magic due to overcomplicated subplots, clumsiness, and a telegraphed sense of zaniness. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-tim-burton-should-have-left-his-film-alone-3260114) ## IndieWire — Sophie Monks Kaufman 28 August 2024. Festival review. Burton has married his jamboree of gags, visual spectacle, and charming practical effects with a distinctly human tale, staying loyal to the original while deepening the human stakes. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-tim-burton-sequel-1235041019/) ## Los Angeles Times — Katie Walsh 4 September 2024. The sequel maintains an irreverent tone and gorgeous morbid look with strong chemistry between Ryder and Keaton, but feels bland, manufactured, and like mass-produced merch rather than the singular original. Too many shoehorned celebrity cameos and recycled material leave the critic wondering why it was summoned. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-09-04/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-winona-ryder-jenna-ortega) ## Sight and Sound 29 August 2024. Festival review. The critic finds the sequel entertaining but messy and unwieldy, working best as a series of funny skits especially featuring Catherine O’Hara. Too many subplots, forced humour and limited screen time for Michael Keaton prevent it from achieving full anarchy. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-tim-burtons-unwieldy-sequel-messy-messy-entertainment) ## Slant Magazine — Justin Clark 5 September 2024. Burton’s belated sequel abounds in morbid, nauseating delights and offers a confident, playful vision of the afterlife; it feels like the most honest, human, and heartfelt tale the director has told in decades. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-winona-ryder-michael-keaton-jenna-ortega-tim-burton/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney 28 August 2024. Festival review. The critic praises the sequel for helping Tim Burton rediscover the ghoulish mischief of his glory days, highlighting inventive sequences and the poignant mother-daughter story between Ryder and Ortega. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-winona-ryder-tim-burton-michael-keaton-jenna-ortega-1235985886/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis 5 September 2024. The critic finds the sequel a fun but less edgy return of the original cast, with cozy familiarity replacing the manic subversion of the first film. Keaton's performance is highlighted as now more like a super-eccentric uncle, and while not as unrepressed, it still elicits giggles. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/movies/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review.html) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman 28 August 2024. Festival review. The lightweight sequel works as ghostly fan service with enough Burton juice to entertain, recapturing some cracked-gothic nostalgia even if it lacks the original's full monster-kitsch jolt. Keaton's energy and inventive sequences like the MacArthur Park wedding stand out positively amid the recycled material. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-tim-burton-jenna-ortega-winona-ryder-1236119595/) ## Vulture 28 August 2024. Festival review. The long-in-coming sequel is a return to form and a welcome jolt of the old Tim Burton, finding the director and cast getting weird, gross, and goth again in both the living world and the afterlife. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-tim-burton-is-great-again.html) ## NME — Nick Levine Rating 4/5. 6 September 2024. Praises Burton’s wicked imagination and the film's silly, giddy, disgusting fun with brilliantly ridiculous moments, despite some flaws like unnecessary CGI. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-jenna-ortega-tim-burton-3791317) ## Collider — Martin Tsai Rating 7/10. 29 August 2024. The sequel is the best one could hope for from a cash grab and a welcome return to form for Tim Burton. It is consistent with the original thematically and stylistically, with Burton energized and having fun again, though some subplots feel tangential and it takes a while to get going. [Read the review](https://collider.com/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review/) ## /Film — Jacob Hall Rating 7/10. 3 September 2024. The critic finds the sequel a funny, shaggy return to form for Burton that recaptures his early manic energy without matching the original's peaks. The handcrafted practical effects and the Deetz family dynamics, especially the grandmother/mother/daughter relationships, are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1652573/tim-burton-beetlejuice-2-review/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 3/5. 4 September 2024. The critic finds it a good time with campy mayhem and strong performances from Keaton and O’Hara, but notes it's overstuffed, underwritten, and doesn't surpass the original. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-michael-keaton/) ## Deadline — Stephanie Bunbury 28 August 2024. Festival review. The critic finds the sequel a joyous, macabre treat and a fun reunion rather than a typical cash-grab follow-up. She singles out the strong plot twists, impeccable cast performances, the spoof Italian horror sequence, and the climactic musical number set to 'MacArthur Park' for praise. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/08/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-2-review-jenna-ortega-tim-burton-1236058235/) ## The Wrap 28 August 2024. Festival review. The review calls the film a fan-service legacy sequel that delivers a Burton buffet of callbacks and throwback techniques but leaves viewers stuffed if not fully satisfied. It praises the self-aware callbacks, practical effects, gruesome designs, and gonzo musical cues while noting it feels like the director offering his take on his own work. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-review-sequel-is-a-tim-burton-buffet-for-better-and-worse/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/beetlejuice-beetlejuice.md