The sequel proved that the original concept hasn’t lost its magic. In his statement Burton said “And the idea of a sequel came up many times—there were various scripts written, too. But I always felt that if we were going to do it, it had to feel right, and with the blessing of Michael, Catherine and Winona. I wouldn’t want to do it unless they were all on board. I always identified with Lydia so I started thinking about what her life would be like—going from being a cool goth teenager to a grown adult. What happened to her 35 years later? What happens to all of us? Sometimes as you get older you lose a little bit of yourself, you go down a path, you take a journey, you have different relationships; all these things change you.”
The Deetz family returns to their family home in the town of Winter River, which is still haunted by Beetlejuice played with great joy by Michael Keaton. Lydia played by Winona Ryder is a TV show psychic but it’s mostly just a fake for the audience. But when her rebellious teenage daughter Astrid played by Jenna Ortega discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic strange things begin to happen to the Deetz family once again. Astrid falls for a pleasant, good looking young guy who it turns out has murdered his parents and who lures her through a portal into the Afterlife.
Throwing caution to the winds to save her daughter Lydia says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns. From there on out it’s Burton’s one special style of humour and mayhem as each turn of events is more outrageous than the last. Burton’s creative gothic horror comedy broke new ground in the 1988 original that established his name as a star director and in this sequel he shows himself to be one of those rare artists that continues to come up with fresh creative ideas as the years pass.
The film opens with Delores played by Monica Bellucci as a ghost who is collecting her body parts stored in different boxes and staples herself together, all accompanied to the tine of the Bee Gees song Tragedy. It’s a brilliant and hilarious opening and the film continues for equally funny gags all the way through to the end when in a “it’s finally safe to go back in the water” ending shows us Astrid giving birth to a tiny demon Beetlejuice.
For fans of the original movie this Beetlejuice sequel will not disappoint and for those who didn’t see the first film this is a weird and joyful romp that a younger generation will thoroughly enjoy.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (USA / UK)
Directed by Tim Burton
Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe
