Thirty-six years later, Beetlejuice is back on screen, still dead but “just a little more moldy”, recycling the universe and characters of the first opus, as well as its favorite actors.
For “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the sequel to Tim Burton’s cult macabre comedy in theaters Wednesday, Michael Keaton once again dons the striped costume of the sinister and prankster “bio-exorcist” trying to join the world of the living.
A character who has not aged: he is still dead but “just a little more moldy”, joked the actor at a press conference at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August.
With his face completely made up again, Keaton, at 72, clearly enjoys returning to this role which marked the beginning of his partnership with Tim Burton, before “Batman”.
But, as in the first part, his appearances are ultimately few on screen, which he shares with Catherine O’Hara, 70 years old, and especially Winona Ryder, 52 years old.
The latter reprise their original roles, those of Delia and Lydia Deetz, stepmother and stepdaughter who move into a house haunted by a couple of ghosts.
Their characters have aged with them, making the performance somewhat mechanical.
“For me, it wasn’t about denying aging,” O’Hara said, “but rather embracing it and being happy to be alive.”
– A strange family –
Lydia Deetz, the child who communicates with ghosts from the first part, has become a TV host specializing in the paranormal and, in turn, the mother of a teenager, Astrid, who does not want to hear about the supernatural.
The latter is played by Jenna Ortega, who became a star at 21 thanks to the Netflix series “Wednesday” (inspired by the Addams Family), produced by Tim Burton, while Willem Dafoe parodies himself as a police inspector from beyond.
“This film is like a family film, about a strange family,” commented Tim Burton, who, “disappointed by the industry,” wanted to return to a more artisanal cinema, based on very simple techniques like makeup or puppets, which is the charm of his universe.
“We tried to do like in the first film, where there was a lot of improvisation. We planned things on the day itself, tried things out. (…) We’re not going to win the Oscar for best special effects, but that doesn’t matter!” continued the author of classics like “Edward Scissorhands” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
– Horror scene –
“Beetlejuice” version 2024 is nonetheless produced by one of the biggest studios, Warner, which hopes to make it one of the blockbusters of the fall season.
With the idea of charming the generation brought up on the first film, now adults, like its descendants, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” links winks to the original film.
More abundant, it multiplies the intrigues at the risk of repeating itself: the initiatory quest of the young Astrid, plunged into the afterlife, the relations between Lydia and her mother-in-law or the vendetta of Beetlejuice’s ex-wife, Delores.
This new evil Frankenstein-like creature is played by Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton’s partner. The latter offers the actress an unexpected scene, worthy of a horror film.
Because more than just gothic, this “Beetlejuice” is bloody as can be, with its eviscerated characters, its monsters of all kinds and its demonic babies.
The sweet dream of a happy coexistence of the living and ghosts, which made the charm of the first film, evaporates.
But Burton continues to mock the failings of contemporary American society. Added to the snobbery of the art world are the excesses of the prophets of well-being and those of influencers absorbed by their screens.
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