Does the world need a sequel to Beetlejuice? This question is theoretically irrelevant given the existence of Twisters and less relevant franchises that have been proliferating in cinemas for decades now.
So let’s put that aside for now and get to the point: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is here now and is something like the Top Gun: Maverick of films about goth girls and bio-exorcists. Tim Burton directs a meeting of the fantasy generationswith Winona Ryder and Wednesday star Jenna Ortega as a mother-daughter couple for (posthumous) eternity.
The Jenna Ortega film has been in the works for 34 years and you can’t tell from the fantasy adventure
Part 1 was set in 1988 and tells the story of how an undead couple tried to free their house from its new owners with the help of the eccentric ghost Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton). Just two years later, the first plans for a sequel were shared (presumably by fax). But neither Beetlejuice in Love nor Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian came to fruition. Several decades, authors and script drafts later, Part 2 finally celebrated its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Winona Ryder takes us by the hand at the beginning and leads us back to the world of tranquil suburbs that are only three words away from absolute undead chaos. The ghost-sensitive teenager Lydia Deetz (Ryder) has become a somewhat over-excited star of a haunted house show. Her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) is still struggling with the loss of her father and her mother’s supernatural reputation.
Warner Bros.
A sad occasion becomes great fun in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
A death leads the three Deetz generations, Lydia, Astrid and the art-loving grandmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara), back to the cursed house in Winter River. Meanwhile, Betelgeuse’s ex (Monica Bellucci) leaves a trail of destruction through the afterlife in revenge.
The Balancing act between nostalgia and novelty is accomplished surprisingly effortlessly in Beetlejuice 2. On the one hand, this is achieved through the cracked, lovable heart of the film: the trio of Lydia, Astrid and Delia, who are all entangled in the past in their own way and must find a way forward.
Then there is of course the timeless Beetlejuice by Michael Keaton, which I seriously asked myself in the cinema how he could survive without this character. So much manic energy and enthusiasm has to go somewhere. Does Keaton store it up only to explode in front of a camera every thirty years? In any case, the audience can count themselves lucky that Keaton was able to dust off his black and white suit and grey fuzzy wig again.
Beetlejuice 2 fortunately does not repeat Wednesday’s mistake and relies on practical effects
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not just fun for fans of the original. The latter will recognize some elements and sets, but the focus is on pure joy in the most serious topic of all: death. You don’t have to have seen the originalThis universally understandable joy bubbles up from the animatronic dolls of the dead, from the bitten-off torsos, wriggling piranha fins and various innards that cavort in the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
Warner Bros.
Michael Keaton plays Betelgeuse as if he had never left
The fantasy film is an experience that seems to have fallen out of time, like its title character: Beetlejuice 2 boasts hand-made effects that make more of an impression than the largest CGI hordes – or digital monsters, to open up Wednesday wounds at this point. Which is understandable, because the two Wednesday creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar wrote the screenplay. At the same time, they know the limits of their film. And these can be measured in exactly 105 minutes.
Enough time for a sweet family story, a few quirky acquaintances and the tremendous creativity of Tim Burton and his team. No time for franchise mythology, sequel preparation, reference orgies and the like. So it doesn’t happen.
To return to the annoying initial question: Does the world need this sequel? The sequel itself provides the clear answer: no. That’s exactly why Beetlejuice 2 feels so incredibly liberating.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was shown at the Venice Film Festival. In Germany, the film will be released in cinemas on September 12th.