Michael Keaton has put on his black and white suit again, lowered his voice a few octaves and brought all sorts of ghostly mischief with him. After 36 years, he is playing the iconic ghost Betelgeuse again. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reunites him with director Tim Burton, Original stars such as Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara as well as newcomer Jenna Ortega.
This is how the story continues in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice was released in 1988 and part 2 picks up the story decades later. After the sudden death of Charles Deetz, three generations of the Deetz family return to the house in Winter River: the now grown-up Lydia (Winona Ryder), her mother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and Lydia’s daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). The rebellious teenager Astrid does not believe in the haunting that frightened her mother more than 30 years ago.
While rummaging around in the attic, Astrid comes across a mysterious model of the city and inadvertently opens a gate to the world of the dead. This causes chaos in both the real world and the afterlife, affecting not only Lydia’s husband Rory (Justin Theroux), but also Betelgeuse’s ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci), who still has a score to settle with the ghost. It’s only a matter of time before someone says the name Beetlejuice three times and the tricky demon Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) returns.
This is what the critics say about Tim Burton’s fantasy adventure
Beetlejuice 2, or Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, celebrated its world premiere at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, where my conclusion after watching the film was:
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 [und bietet] enough time for a sweet family story, a few bizarre acquaintances and the tremendous creativity of Tim Burton and his team. On average, the reviews are positive, although not overly euphoric. Rotten Tomatoes has an average of 78 percent positive reviews, while Metacritic has calculated a score of 62 (out of 100) from the reviews. Dana Stevens indirectly summarizes the tenor at Slate:I don’t want to praise Beetlejuice Beetlejuice too much, because it is actually just a better than expected continuationg, which has its heart in the right place. But with the strong craftsmanship contributions of former Burton employees […] Burton seems to be having fun behind the camera for the first time in a long time. Also crucial to the film’s success are the performances of such first-rate comedians as Keaton, who brings his repulsive ghoul his own anarchic charisma, and the always brilliant Catherine O’Hara, who at the preview screening I attended drew an audible laugh every other line she read.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice starts tomorrow 12 September in German cinemas.