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“The afterlife is so random,” Jenna Ortega’s stroppy teen Astrid sighs midway through Tim Burton’s long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel. She could say the same about the movie she’s in. This 36-years-in-the-making follow-up – which is premiering out of competition at the Venice Film Festival – is scattershot work. There are wonderful gags and some enjoyably grotesque clowning from star Michael Keaton, while Burton’s visual inventiveness hasn’t deserted him. But his ability to tell a coherent story is very much in doubt.
