Beetlejuice Beetlejuice First Reviews – “Rife With Nostalgia”, “A Blast” With “Buoyant Energy”

The verdict is in for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice which was called "ghoulishly fun", "joyous", and "an absolute thrill ride" in the first reactions out of the Venice Film Festival, where it premiered to a – not so impressive by festival standards – three-minute standing ovation.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice now has an official critics score from the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, where 40 critics have had their say on the legacy sequel from Tim Burton.

Landing a respectable 78%, just a 4% drop off from the beloved 1988 film starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, and Catherine O'Hara Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is said to be " Rife with nostalgia " and " a love letter to a beloved classic ".

Alison Willmore at Vulture says it feels "like reconnecting with an estranged friend", and Stephanie Bunbury at Deadline says, "Everybody here is obviously having fun to burn" and "it's also a blast just to watch."

John Nugent at Empire Magazine agrees, saying, "Michael Keaton, barely ageing a day in his panda-eyed demonic get-up, if anything seems to have more energy than he did 35 years ago, bouncing off the purgatorial walls with hilarious gusto, lifting everything around him."

"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is pretty safe for a legacy sequel," says Ben Rolph of Discussing Film, "but director Tim Burton proves that his signature creative touch hasn't lost its magic."

A few critics had quibbles with the film, however.

Richard Lawson at Vanity Fair says Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is "so jumbled and overstuffed it's almost abstract", and Kevin Maher at Times (UK) says "the mania feels consistently forced."

Overall, the film seems to be beloved by critics, even if that love mostly comes from nostalgia.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Review Roundup

• TIME Magazine: This sequel to Burton's 1988 cracked pop masterpiece Beetlejuice doesn't strive for greatness, or even your garden-variety over-the-top fantastical vision. Instead, Burton has just allowed himself to be silly and have fun.
• London Evening Standard: Suffice to say that nobody does death like Tim Burton, and it's a pleasure to follow him back into the underworld. You'll leave the cinema and return to the world of the living with a spring in your step and a smile on your face.
• Variety: It doesn't give you the full monster-kitsch jolt that the original film had. Yet there's good fan service and bad, and as stilted and gimcracky as it can sometimes be, I had a pretty good time at Beetlejuice Beetlejuice .
• BBC.com: The nicest surprise is that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that rare thing, a big-budget comedy which is actually funny.
• The Hollywood Reporter: The zippy pacing, buoyant energy and steady stream of laugh-out-loud moments hint at the joy Burton appears to have found in revisiting this world, and for anyone who loved the first movie, it's contagious.