‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ never really proves its case for existing

Tim Burton’s 1988 “Beetlejuice” is one of those movies that I saw as a kid that shaped my taste in media. It was the most creative, zany and fun movie I’d ever seen, and the scene where Catherine O’Hara and her guests are possessed and made to dance to a Harry Belafonte song is still one of my favorite segments of any movie. But whenever we watched it at home as a family, usually around Halloween, my parents had the remote control handy and fast-forwarded through a few parts they deemed too scary for my young sensibilities, and those of my siblings.

Now those “scary” segments from the original “Beetlejuice” seem like a PBS Kids show. The janky stop-motion is too distracting to scare even my youngest child.

So, always on the lookout for spooky-ish movies I can show my kids without causing nightmares, I set out to discover if the new sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” — which opened strong this weekend — was a movie we could watch together as a family this Halloween season.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” finds Winona Ryder reprising her role as Lydia Deetz, 36 years after the events of the original movie, working as a ghost hunter for reality television. Catherine O’Hara is also back as Delia Deetz, Lydia’s eccentric stepmother, and Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, the afterlife demon who tried to marry Lydia decades earlier. New to the sequel is Jenna Ortega playing Lydia’s nearly estranged teen daughter Astrid, and Justin Theroux as Rory, Lydia’s self-absorbed producer.

The family is brought together by the death of Lydia’s father. And for the first little while, the movie feels fairly normal, with some Tim Burton stylistic flairs. But when a side character steps into a manhole and meets an early demise, the movie quickly transitions into a story about the afterlife. It’s an uncanny and macabre version of many of the bureaucratic offices we know here on this side of life, just like it was in the first film. The difference now is that visual effects have come a long way, so the deceased walking around with open wounds and signs of decay look much more real than they did in the 1988 film.

The effects are still cartoony, and used for laughs. A character who drowned in the Amazon still has wriggling piranhas latched onto his skin. But the effects tiptoe a very fine line between campy and upsetting, and as someone who gets queasy at the sight of blood, I sometimes found them more disturbing than funny.

My kids, two of whom get scared watching “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” would never make it to the end of the movie. They probably wouldn’t even make it to the 30-minute mark. But they’re still young. My oldest is 12 and my youngest is 5. I think this movie would probably be much better received among older teens. It is, after all, rated PG-13 , and that feels like an appropriate guide for who will be old enough to separate some violent but cartoony imagery from reality.

The use of Jenna Ortega, currently one of Gen Z’s biggest stars, and her storyline is a direct appeal to younger viewers. It’s also the only storyline that feels sincere. She’s processing the death of her father, navigating a tenuous relationship with her mother, and falling for a boy for the first time. Every other story, and there are many, seems to exist just for the bits.

My biggest criticism of the film is that it never really proves its case for existing. There are at least two too many plots to follow, all of which are wrapped up in a hurry, and the script doesn’t have much to say for itself.

Then again, it’s a good time. My occasional queasiness aside, the afterlife is very fun to watch. It’s full of bright colors, thoughtful details, and clever reflections of our day-to-day lives. While the actors don’t always have enough to do, they’re giving very fun performances, especially Keaton, who plays Beetlejuice with the same electric energy as he did in 1988. The movie isn’t as original or well told as the first movie, but it doesn’t have to be to be enjoyable. To borrow a phrase from the kids, this movie is a vibe.

It’s never overtly scary, but spooky enough to be a part of the Halloween media rotation for years to come. I look forward to watching it with my kids in five to 10 years when I feel they’re ready for it. By then the visual effects may have aged to become nothing but comical. But we’ll watch with the remote control handy, just in case.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is in theaters now and is rated PG-13 for violent content, macabre and bloody images, and strong language.