Tim Burton couldn't have asked for a better return from the afterlife.
Beetle Juice Beetle JuiceThe 36-year-awaited sequel to Burton’s 1988 cult horror-comedy received a standing ovation from audiences at this year’s Venice Film Festival when it premiered on Wednesday night.
Critics also hailed Burton's sequel as a welcome return to form. In his review, The Hollywood ReporterDavid Rooney's chief critic said Burton, “a director with a love of the macabre, finds new life in death,” with stars Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton helping the director “rediscover the macabre malice of his glory days.” Rooney says he repeatedly scribbled “Tim Burton is back!” in his notes during the film.
The response was broadly similar across the board, with the BBC asking Beetle Juice Beetle Juice “a cheerfully bizarre farce, full of knockout jokes and great practical effects” and Empire magazine that praises Keaton's reprise of his eponymous role as the mischievous demon. “Michael Keaton has never been more Beetlejuicier.” The British magazine Guardian gave a rare review, writing: “Burton's attempt to revive the '80s spirit-world horror comedy is full of tacky set pieces, but fails to add much to the original.”
Speaking ahead of the Venice premiere, Burton said he felt “reinvigorated” by the film, after a number of years in which “I had been a little bit disillusioned with the film industry, [I sort] of having lost myself.”
If the reaction in Venice is any indication, Burton is definitely back. Warner Bros. will be happy. Beetle Juice Beetle Juice is already raking in upwards of $80 million at the domestic box office when it hits theaters on September 6. It looks like the juice is really on the down low.