“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” highlights nostalgia
Written by Isabella Halteman. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” screened on Halloween at the Lucas Theater at noon. Costume designer Colleen Atwood was presented with the Variety Creative Impact in Costume Design Award and spoke with Variety’s Jazz Tangcay prior to the screening. She spoke about her vast career, working with Tim Burton and many other projects.
With the first “Beetlejuice” movie coming out over 35 years ago, there was always talk about a second movie happening. When “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was finally officially announced, the fanbase woke up and showed their support. With original cast members Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara returning to their roles, along with the wonderful addition of Burton’s “Wednesday” actress Jenna Ortega and Monica Belluci, this long-awaited sequel was in good hands.
When a tragedy calls the Deetz women back to their abandoned Winter River home, Lydia’s (Winona Ryder) recent hauntings from Beetlejuice are proven real. Astrid (Jenna Ortega), Lydia’s rebellious teen daughter, still angry from the loss of her father, has always struggled to connect with her mother. She doesn’t believe that her mother has the ability to see the dead and thinks her a fluke. Her opinion on that is quickly changed when she takes a trip to the underworld and meets a certain ghost with the most. Lydia and Beetlejuice work together to get her daughter back on Earth, not without a few bumps in the road, of course.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” has a surprisingly heartwarming story arc with Ryder and Ortega’s mother-daughter bond. Delia (Catherine O’Hara) offers her input on her stepdaughter’s situation, as it is much like what she dealt with when Lydia was a teen in the first movie. The characters that were in the first movie kept a lot of the same traits we met them with, but in this new movie, they had aged and grown appropriately, giving the audience the opportunity to learn even more about them. Lydia is now the host of a ghost talk show, “Ghost House.” Delia, still an artist, has moved on from just sculpture and now exploring many different mediums to communicate her deep emotions with the world. Even Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), we learn, has an ex-wife, Delores (Monica Belluci), who quite literally staples herself back together in the beginning and goes on a rampage to find her love.
The soundtrack, done by the monumental Danny Elfman, with whom Tim Burton has worked countless times, was a huge factor in the theme of the film. Like the first movie, a choreographed dance scene came out of nowhere, where characters danced against their will.
What better movie to enjoy on Halloween than a Burton film?
Isabella Halteman is a sophomore Performing Arts major with minors in Creative Writing and Vocal Performance. She is a Copy Editor for District, editing and publishing articles on our website. She also enjoys writing poetry and creative personal essays. Outside of school, you can find her singing in her car, baking and cooking, and watching old movies.
