pure Tim Burton for the return of his undertaker clown

Tim Burton is making a sequel to 1988’s “Beetlejuice,” considered the founding film of his unique style.

With Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder still in the game and an entrance by Jenna Ortega, this second part of Beetlejuiceeagerly awaited 36 years after the first opus, takes up all the codes and motifs that make up the singular aesthetic of Tim Burton’s cinema. Presented at the opening of the Venice Film Festival, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is released in theaters on September 11, 2024.

The film opens with a long tracking shot over Winter River. After the accidental death of Charles Deetz, the family returns to the haunted fold for a happening-like funeral staged by Delia (Catherine O’Hara), his eccentric widow. His daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder), is also grieving for her husband, the father of her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). In this haunted house where the Deetz family once cohabited with the ghosts of the couple Maitland, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), her suitor from beyond the grave makes reappearances for her alone.

Having become the host of a TV show about ghosts (her specialty), Lydia is now in a relationship with her manager, Rori (Justin Théroux), a sad fellow with a penchant for cheap metaphors and New Age advice. Lydia’s relationship with her daughter Astrid is not great. The young girl, a rebellious teenager, has not digested the death of her father. She has a hard time dealing with Lydia’s neuroses and does not like her mother’s new partner either.

Another story takes place in parallel in the world of the dead: Beetlejuice is pursued by Dolores (Monica Bellucci), his late wife, cut into pieces. This soul-eater is determined to take revenge on her vile husband. In the world of the dead, the ectoplasms line up at the ticket office before taking the train that will take them to this “delirium” what is the afterlife. But The day Astrid meets Jeremy, a handsome young man who invites her to come celebrate Halloween in his room, the door that separates the world of the living from that of the dead opens again…

What is this film about? First of all, about what lies behind appearances. This is the meaning of the first shot of the film, this long aerial tracking shot that flies over the village of Winter River, making us imagine what is going on behind the doors and windows of the houses, the torments and secrets that haunt the inhabitants of this clean and polite village.

Of course, it talks about mourning (almost all the characters have lost a loved one) and the relationship with death, but also about privileges in the world of the living, which no longer apply once the reaper has passed. It also talks about the relationships between a mother and her daughter, manipulation, and fantasy, which in Tim Burton’s world is erected as a principle of life. A fantasy pushed to the point of caricature, which allows all the protagonists of this crazy adventure to digest the dramas.

In this Beetlejuice 2024, everyone has aged without losing their madness. It seems that Tim Burton wanted to give a concentrate of what makes his trademark: an all-out exuberance, characters and settings drawn as in his sketchbooks, artisanal special effects, old-fashioned.

There are also references, first of all from the director to himself and his work, but also to everything that has always crossed his cinema, from Lewis Caroll to German expressionism, via horror films and B movies, and also this time the pop years and the 80s. The script, a bit convoluted, is of secondary importance here. More than in a story, we are projected into a universe (almost a ghost train), that of a singular filmmaker, his irony, his taste for the macabre with a comic and colorful sauce, and this mixture of genres that Tim Burton has been experimenting with since his beginnings.

A whirlwind staging, a luxury cast, an original soundtrack that contributes to the rhythm and the humor, colorful sets and costumes… Prolific director from Edward Scissorhandsof The Nightmare Before Christmasfrom two opuses of Batmanof Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or of Mars Attackand more recently from the hit series Wednesday, broadcast on Netflix, Tim Burton has gone all out in this Beetlejuice squared, which will not disappoint fans if their expectation does not exceed a desire for a small, strongly dosed nostalgic booster shot.

Gender : Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Director: Tim Burton
Actors: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega
Country : UNITED STATES
Duration : 1h 44min
Exit : September 11, 2024
Distributer : Warner Bros. France
Synopsis : After a terrible tragedy, the Deetz family returns to Winter River. Still haunted by the memory of Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter Astrid accidentally opens a portal to the afterlife. With chaos looming over both worlds, it’s only a matter of time before someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the prankster demon returns to wreak havoc…