2024 Released Beetlejuice Beetlejuicedirector Tim Burton's sequel to his 1988 classic. Burton is a prolific director in Hollywood, but despite box office successes and blockbusters, the director has largely avoided making sequels. While the source material for both films Pee Wee's Great Adventure and Alice in Wonderland The film had sequels, but Burton never returned to the director's chair. In fact, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice It is only the second part that he has ever directed, coming 32 years after the director's only other attempt at directing a sequel, Batman Returns.
Batman ReturnsReleased in 1992, it served as a sequel to Burton's incredibly successful film. Batmanwhich broke box office records in 1989. Warner Bros. gave Tim Burton complete creative control over the project, seeing in the director the magic touch the franchise needed. Burton delivered a controversial film that left many parents horrified and children in shock (while others absolutely loved it). This led to Burton being fired from the franchise and the films moving to a brighter aesthetic under Joel Schumacher with batman forever Before the franchise burns down with batman and robinReaction to. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Batman Returns is certainly more positive than Batman Returns, but one look at Tim Burton's two films and two sequels has a lot in common.
Keaton, The Sewing Woman, Danny DeVito
Batman Returns The famous slogan was “Bat, Cat, and Penguin,” selling Batman, Catwoman, and of course the Penguin. Well, in many ways, that could sum up both. Batman Returns and Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceBoth films feature Michael Keaton reprising his iconic roles as Batman and Beetlejuice, respectively. This means Burton is one of only two stars to appear in two Tim Burton films, the other being Danny DeVito.Danny DeVito played Oswald Cobblepot, also known as the Penguin, in Batman ReturnsMeanwhile, DeVito appeared in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice At the beginning of the film, he plays a janitor in the afterlife, who dies at the hands of Dolores (Monica Bellucci), a soul vampire who can actually kill the dead inhabitants of the afterlife.
Dolores is Beetlejuice's ex-wife, who poisoned him before he died, and he took revenge by hacking her to pieces with an axe. In the afterlife, she is a collection of body parts that can operate independently but can also be made whole by stapling them together. She is another in Tim Burton's long line of stitched female characters that evoke the Bride of Frankenstein, such as Sally in Iron Man. The Nightmare Before Christmas The corpse bride is the title of the film. Dolores' stitches also evoke Michel Pfeiffer's iconic Catwoman costume, black leather with stitch marks that hold the costume together..
Tim Burton is commonly associated with Christmas and Halloween, in part due to his 1993 animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Batman Returns and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Both are sequels set during one of those special holidays, with Batman Returns It was set at Christmas while Beetlejuice Beetlejuice It culminates on Halloween night.
Texts linked together by subplots
Batman Returns and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice They have a similar pattern in their reviews, as well. They both get a lot of criticism for their lyrics, while they get a lot of praise for their style.One common criticism of both is that Batman Returns and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice The texts are the weakest parts. Both films are filled with numerous subplots that, like Catwoman's suit or Monica Paolucci's Dolores, are pieced together.. Batman Returns The film begins with Penguin posing as a hero so he can reach Gotham's first children to carry out his revenge, but his plan is derailed by a brief attempt to reach the city's mayor through the coordination of Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), before Batman reveals Penguin to the public and returns to his revenge for killing Gotham's first children.
Meanwhile, Selina Kyle is called in by her boss, Max Schreck, after she uncovers a plan to build a power plant that will secretly drain and store Gotham's electricity. There's also Bruce Wayne/Batman, the somewhat interactive protagonist. Other than stopping Penguin, the bulk of the plot is Bruce Wayne forming a romantic relationship with Selina Kyle before they both reveal each other's secret identities. Batman Returns “It is a series of small subplots strung together to form a very loose film,” Roger Ebert noted at the time, “The plot does not unfold like a well-coiled machine. The film progresses fitfully, from one small drama to another.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice The movie suffers from a similar problem, as it also has several subplots that are stitched together to form a movie. Sometimes, it seems like they are separate. Beetlejuice Sequels that only succeed with difficulty in connectingThere, Lydia (Winona Ryder) reconnects with her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), as Astrid is upset that her mother can see ghosts but is unable to see her father and Lydia's ex-husband Richard. While visiting the house from the original, BeetlejuiceAstrid meets a young boy named Jeremy, who turns out to be the ghost of the man who killed his family in the 1990s and tricks Astrid into going to the realm of the dead with him so he can take her place among the living.
Lydia is haunted by visions of Beetlejuice, while her boyfriend/TV producer Rory (Justin Theroux) proposes to her, hoping to speed up the marriage. After avoiding Beetlejuice, Lydia is forced to summon him to rescue her daughter, and the two strike a deal to marry him. On top of that, Beetlejuice himself is haunted by his deceased ex-wife Dolores, who wants revenge on him. There are also stories involving Lydia's stepmother, Delia (Catherine O'Hara), and Willem Dafoe, who plays a deceased actor who now works as a police officer in the mortal realm.
However, many reviewers were also quick to note that both Batman Returns and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice They were able to overcome their script problems thanks to the imaginative visual style created by Tim Burton.
Tim Burton's style goes a long way.
Batman Returns and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Tim Burton was able to overcome the poor scripts with his visual talent as a director. Both films are unique in their own right, and come at different points in his career. Batman ReturnsThe director was cashing a blank check. After the successes he had achieved, Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands The origin BatmanWarner Bros. gave him creative control, and he used it to the fullest. Batman Returns This is easily one of Burton's best looking films, as he and production designer Beau Welch set the “gothic” tone for Gotham City.
Although Penguin and Catwoman may not resemble their comic book counterparts, they are both unique interpretations of Burton. Even at the time, critics praised Burton's stunning visuals in Batman Returnswhich has become more appreciated over time. As the superhero genre has become more dominant, it's safe to say that nothing quite like the unique gothic mix of Christmas. Batman ReturnsThe film has become a holiday classic in recent years.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice It's a similar but different story. If Batman Returns Tim Burton was at the peak of his career, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice It is back to the directorThe first decade of the 21st century was a difficult year for the director. Although Alice in Wonderland As his most successful film to date, the film's overt computer animation was widely criticized, and for many, was seen as a sharp regression for the director.
Once Burton's visual style was vibrant and fresh, it seemed as if he had run his course with films like Frankenweenie, Miss Peregoyne's Home for Peculiar Childrenand “Dumbo,” all of which looked like Bertrand was repeating what he had done before. while Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Perhaps Burton is returning to a world he's visited before, and this is the first time in over a decade where he feels like his heart is in it.. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice The visual style update does not appear to be working. Beetlejuice But the film redeems him. It uses stop-motion photography and includes incredibly dark and terrifying visuals with the humor that made Burton such a sensational director early in his career.
Why this is the sequel that worked
This also suggests that both films, despite their flaws on the screenplay level, seem to be overcoming them in terms of general audience enthusiasm. While part of that is due to Tim Burton's distinctive visual brilliance, One could argue that the stories of both films, though messy, connect with the audience.In theory, the stories are supposed to fall apart, but the audience's acclaim and love for these films suggests that it's not always about what's written on the page but how it's executed.
Batman Returns and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice They are suitable choices for my Tim Burton film. Batman Returns It was a film made by a filmmaker on a winning streak, while Beetlejuice Beetlejuice He can be considered a filmmaker who is regaining his creative voice again and returning to the scene.These films have shown that Tim Burton can overcome a weak script if he continues to use his creative imagery, dark humor, and good spirit in the film. And the presence of Michael Keaton in the film doesn't hurt either.
