Another revamp of a ‘modern classic’. Fortunately it was made by Burton himself. Burton got a part of the old cast together. Michael Keaton plays Beetlejuice, just as in 1988. Also Winona Ryder returns in the same role (Lydia Deetz), but then 30 years older and Catherine O’Hara as her mother. New actors are Monica Belluci as the evil ex; Willem Dafoe as a dead cop; Justin Theroux as Lydia’s husband-to-be and an amusing Dani deVito.
Burtons opens with the introduction of old and new story lines. Delores comes back from the (un)dead and Lydia Deetz is the hostess of a ghost TV show who has to travel back to the house where the first movie played. Her daughter wants as little as possible to have to do with her mother and grand mother, but she has to join the family at the villa.
There are no big surprises in the film. Needless to say that Beetlejuice has returned after 30 years with his gruely humour. The family has to travel through the ghastly world of the (un)dead and the world of the living in order to prevent things from going awry. Burton came up with a descent level of ‘joke density’ often referring to the first film. The film is still very much “Beetlejuice” and very much Burton, but -of course- more ‘contemporary’.
Quite amusing.
