Beetlejuice Beetlejuice brings back peak Tim Burton

You can feel Tim Burton's passion in every frame of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in a resurgence for the once-elite director.

After a decade of misses, flops, and mismatches - mostly involving Disney - Burton returns to one of his iconic properties and does it solid fan service.

The plot sees Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) now working as a supernatural podcaster and single mom.

When her daughter (Wednesday's Jenna Ortega) finds herself in a pickle, Lydia must team with her least favorite demon to save her.

There are so many threads to the story - Monica Bellucci as a soul-sucking ex-wife of Beetlejuice who looks like the live-action Corpse Bride; William Dafoe as a Tom Cruise-like actor who died from performing his own stunts and now serves as a detective in the Neitherworld; Catherine O'Hara returning and rehashing her Schitt's Creek schtick; and Justin Theroux as Lydia's fiancé with possible ulterior motives.

It's a lot to stitch into a 100-minute film and it becomes a bit of a distraction.

The visuals and effects are vintage Burton, and that aspect of his career has been sorely lacking in recent films like Big Eyes and Dumbo.

Burton mixes in a few of his favorite things. All that's missing is his former No. 1 Johnny Depp.

The director seems largely loose of studio handcuffs as Warner Bros. left him free to his wicked devices.

As he always is, Keaton is a perfect sport and serves as a steadfast guide through an uneven journey into the underworld.

Burton's new muse Ortega gives the film emotional meaning with a strong mother-daughter bond driving the story.

As someone who doesn't count the original as a necessarily great film, this is a fun movie that fans will eat right up.

7 out of 10