Shadows on the Wall | Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

dir Tim Burton
scr Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
prd Tommy Harper, Tim Burton, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Marc Toberoff
with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, Arthur Conti, Santiago Cabrera, Burn Gorman, Nick Kellington, Danny DeVito
release US/UK 6.Sep.24
24/US Warners 1h44

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Gleefully grotesque, this riotous decades-later sequel to the 1988 hit finds Tim Burton on confident form as he orchestrates a nonstop onslaught of mayhem. The film is awash in Burton's wonderfully askew stylings, mixing in puppetry, stop-motion and both practical and digital effects to create an eye-popping spectacle. Sometimes literally. And as the story ties itself in knots with its over-complicated silliness, it's also a lot of fun.

Now a TV ghost-hunter, Lydia (Ryder) is trying to connect with her own teen daughter Astrid (Ortega), who is ashamed of her mother's fame and misses her late dad (Cabrera). When Lydia's father dies, her art-diva stepmum Delia (O'Hara) throws a lavish wake, at which Lydia's manager Rory (Theroux) decides to propose. But Lydia is preoccupied because her old nemesis demon Betelgeuse (Keaton) has returned. It seems that his soul-sucking ex-wife Delores (Bellucci) is back on the rampage, and an afterlife actor-cop (Dafoe) is on the case. Meanwhile, Astrid meets cute local boy Jeremy (Conti).

As in the first film, Burton makes terrific use of music, from a reprise of Day-O at Grandpa's funeral to an outrageously epic climax to the strains of MacArthur Park. Back-stories are presented as claymation or gothic black-and-white Italian horror sequences. And the design of the sets and costumes ripples with offbeat angles and colours, plus a continuous flurry of sight gags. In other words, the film looks fantastic, and is populated by a range of wildly over-the-top characters.

Some of these are a bit exhausting, but then Keaton's title figure is meant to be fully in-your-face in all the wrong ways. He returns to the role with gusto, bouncing energetically off everything and everyone. Ryder and Ortega give the film its heart as an estranged mother and daughter who are more alike than they care to admit, and both need to do some growing up. Side roles are also a lot of fun, from O'Hara's preening Delia and Theroux's weaselly Rory to Dafoe's ridiculously cliched detective.

Spiralling layers of chaos skilfully keep us on our toes as we navigate the web of goofy plot threads, some of which are left dangling. And despite the story's general obsessions with mortality and legacy, the script never finds much to say about either. But Burton keeps everything so vivid that we can't look away, merrily soaking up the slapstick, nutty grisliness and even a whiff of sweet sentimentality.

themes, language, violence 6.Sep.24

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Beetle Juice

Review by Rich Cline

dir Tim Burton
scr Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren
prd Michael Bender, Richard Hashimoto, Larry Wilson
with Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones, Winona Ryder, Sylvia Sidney, Robert Goulet, Dick Cavett
release US 30.Mar.88,
UK 19.Aug.88
88/US Warners 1h32

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The original Shadows on the Wall review published in Vol 4 No 3, May 1988:

I don't know what the filmmakers were thinking when they created this bizarre little film, but I hope they don't follow their predecessors and become Hollywood cardboard cutouts. It seems that success has an incredible ability to water down creativity. People like George Lucas and Sylvester Stallone (I can't believe I put those two names together in one sentence) started out with a vision. Now they seem content to make money, though Lucas still has a ton of talent; he just seems distracted.

Back, now, to Beetle Juice, a film directed by Tim Burton (who was more sure of himself in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure). This has got to be one of the most visually astonishing American films in recent memory. Frankly, it's insane. The filmmakers must have gotten together and written a script for an animated film, then said, "Heck, why don't we do it live action?" And they did. And visually it succeeds beyond their wildest dreams. (Not to mention all the money it's made at the box office.)

The story follows an incredibly nice young couple (superbly played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) who die and find themselves trapped in their home for the next 125 years. Now that would be fine if they were there alone. But an extremely ... well, extreme family (Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara, also excellent, and their morbid daughter, well-played by Winona Ryder) from the city buys their lovely country home and turns it into an annex to the Very Bad Modern Art Museum. Since Davis and Baldwin are so nice, they can't quite muster up enough ghostly villainy to scare the family away. But they sure do try, in some very inventive ways.

All this is wonderful, especially the scenes in the afterlife social services office, which are literally full to the brim with visual gags, and a fabulous meal-time version of Day-O, complete with choreography.

Then Davis and Baldwin call on Betelgeuse (pronounced ... oh, I see you've got it already) to help them get rid of these invaders. Originally, I suspect the character was a minor one. Then they got Michael Keaton, a very gifted comic actor, to play it, so they beefed it up, and probably even changed the title. The problem is this: he's both too much and not enough. Too much because up to his entrance the story is quite enough. It's funny and somewhat touching. He throws it out of balance, and his vulgarity makes the sweetness sour. He's not enough because Keaton is too good to get away with what is essentially a walk-on part. He pulls the focus from the principals, then isn't around long enough to carry off the film.

Even so, Betelgeuse is hilarious, and necessary to the plot -- and to the outrageous and rather silly finale. And it's still a lot of fun, no matter what I just said.

language, innuendo, extreme weirdness Miami, Apr.88