Tim Burton's Beetlejuice is the rare film that begins as a cult classic and becomes a mainstream hit. The revived interest in the 1988 horror-comedy – from a highly successful Broadway musical to a haunted house for Halloween Horror Nights – was enough to warrant a sequel. Unfortunately, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice only comes close to capturing the magic of the original despite the efforts of Burton and Michael Keaton.

This sequel picks up decades after the last film, when an adult Lydia Deetz and her teenage daughter are forced to return to their haunted home after the death of their father. A comical, macabre adventure ensues, causing her to cross paths again with the eponymous Bio-Exorcist. Beetlejuice was light on story, focusing on hijackings, so it's surprising to see this sequel take the exact opposite approach – with so many different storylines that it ends up feeling woefully overstuffed.

Indeed, one of the main problems with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that it lacks the tight pace of its predecessor. While Beetlejuice was a brisk 90 minutes, this sequel is nearly an hour and 45 minutes. This might not be a problem if there was enough creativity in the jokes to warrant it. While several moments show the potential to shine brightly, they consistently drag on too long. Gags that are funny in the first 30 seconds continue for two or even three minutes.

There's also the matter of the film's entire story and emotional arc being built around the fact that a predator from the first film's cast cannot be brought back. The inciting incident is the (unseen) death of Jeffrey Jones' character. While this is an attempt to kick-start an exploration of the themes of grief, every emotional punch becomes virtually pointless. It's hard to take anything as sincere when this story's origins feel out of necessity rather than genuine storytelling. Write him out quietly – don't build a whole story around his absence.