Keaton returns to his iconic role alongside Oscar nominee Winona Ryder (Stranger Things, Little Women) as Lydia Deetz and two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt$ Creek, Corpse Bride) as Delia Deetz, with new cast members Justin Theroux (Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, The Leftovers), Monica Bellucci (Spectre, The Matrix films), Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon) in his feature film debut, with Emmy nominee Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, and Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Poor Things, At Eternity’s Gate).

Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO® Batman Movie), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.

Burton’s creatives behind the scenes includes director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton (Wednesday), editor Jay Prychidny (Wednesday), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell (Topsy-Turvy).

A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released only in cinemas and IMAX on September 5, 2024 nationwide. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
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Keaton returns to his iconic role alongside Oscar nominee Winona Ryder (Stranger Things, Little Women) as Lydia Deetz and two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt$ Creek, Corpse Bride) as Delia Deetz, with new cast members Justin Theroux (Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, The Leftovers), Monica Bellucci (Spectre, The Matrix films), Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon) in his feature film debut, with Emmy nominee Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, and Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Poor Things, At Eternity’s Gate).

Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO® Batman Movie), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.

Burton’s creatives behind the scenes includes director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton (Wednesday), editor Jay Prychidny (Wednesday), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell (Topsy-Turvy).

A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released only in cinemas and IMAX on September 5, 2024 nationwide. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

Keaton returns to his iconic role alongside Oscar nominee Winona Ryder (Stranger Things, Little Women) as Lydia Deetz and two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt$ Creek, Corpse Bride) as Delia Deetz, with new cast members Justin Theroux (Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, The Leftovers), Monica Bellucci (Spectre, The Matrix films), Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon) in his feature film debut, with Emmy nominee Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, and Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Poor Things, At Eternity’s Gate).

Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO® Batman Movie), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.

Burton’s creatives behind the scenes includes director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton (Wednesday), editor Jay Prychidny (Wednesday), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell (Topsy-Turvy).

A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released only in cinemas and IMAX on September 5, 2024 nationwide. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

This vivid approach isn’t just limited to the visuals either. The landscapes and creatures are integral to a story that also expands the mind. One thinks that the story’s original author Lewis Carroll might have gotten hold of some of the Blue Caterpillar’s best stash before pen was put to paper.

Australian actor Mia Wasikowska as Alice, starts out as a dour young girl sent off to marry a man she doesn’t love and through the magic of the story becomes a luminous woman ready to take on the world. It really is a girl power tale for the ages (maybe minus all the drug references though). Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter gets to channel all his inner craziness and is a real scene-stealer.

Having read the original text so far back in my past I can’t attest to any of its devotion to the original story, I can only state that giving someone with as much imagination as Tim Burton free reign to capture the vision in his mind’s eye has helped to create one of the most visually arresting films of all time. It’s also to the film’s credit that the storyline is every bit the equal to the visual extravagance.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/DisneyAUNZ

The story is expanded and now ends with a much bigger flourish. It also gives some of the actors the canvas to go big. In particular Michael Keaton, who has never been more hammy and over the top as the representation of the evils of big business, V. A. Vandevere. Colin Farrell as the returning World War One solider Holt Farrier, also gets to play a heroic father figure to his two young children played by Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins.

The real star of the show is of course Dumbo and the animators do a great job of creating the baby pachyderm with the big ears. Of particular effect are his baby blues, they really translate emotion. Tim Burton and his production designer Rick Heinrichs and cinematographer Ben Davis combine forces to create a fantastical looking world filled with old world charm and an almost steam punk injection of futuristic technology.

The most unique element of the film is its limited accessibility to different segments of the audience. Despite it being a Disney production and being based on a very youth friendly origin, it is quite dark, visually and thematically and that might be a bit much for the very youngest members of the family. Many, including this reviewer, will see this as a plus, as it doesn’t adhere to the old one-size-fits all Disney ethos.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/WaltDisneyStudiosAUNZ/

Circus owner Max Medici (DeVito) enlists Holt to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. But when Holt’s children (Parker and Hobbins) discover that Dumbo can fly, persuasive entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Keaton) and an aerial artist named Colette Marchant (Green) swoop in to make the peculiar pachyderm a star.

Walt Disney’s classic animated tale “Dumbo,” which opened Oct. 23, 1941, won an Oscar® for best scoring of a musical picture and was nominated for best original song for “Baby Mine.”
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Unafraid to unsettle his young target audience (if only just a bit), Burton keeps the creepiness quotient on a low boil while interspersing the proceedings with enough lightness to keep things on the sweet dreams side of nightmares. My 9 year-old was fine with it and, indeed, loved it. Think Coraline-level macabre but perhaps a touch more grisly.

It pays to keep your wits about you in order to follow the film’s mild time-bending eccentricities but, if you keep up, it’s not hard to follow. There are some minor continuity issues in the editing but if you follow the broad strokes it’s easy to fill in the obvious blanks yourself.

Eva Green is all regimented grace and beauty as the titular Miss Peregrine; guardian and mentor to her flock of children with peculiar abilities, protecting them from a bullish world intolerant of those who do not comply with the norm. Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game) does well as Jake, the tender boy with no apparent peculiarity, tasked with saving them all from the evil Barron (Samuel L. Jackson), who means to sacrifice them all for the sake of his own immortality. The rest of the young cast also hold their own. There is also a welcome surprise in the impressive array of seasoned actors filling out the secondary roles that include Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Allison Janney, Chris O’Dowd and Terence Stamp.

Following on from last year’s Big Eyes, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a positive sign that Burton’s quality trend is on the up once more.

Stuart Jamieson
www.foxmovies.com

The paintings, and prints of the paintings, sold like hotcakes and Keane amassed a fortune as a result. There was a problem, though – the pictures were actually created by his wife Margaret. A patron of Margaret, Tim Burton, directs his best film in years, covering the story of Margaret Keane’s struggle to reclaim her artistic soul.

The first thing that strikes you about Tim Burton‘s new film is the colour. At first glance, each shot looks like a painted backdrop, crafted in flawless water colour hues. But they are quite real and are testament to Burton’s eye for detail and passion for a story that he holds close to his heart.

Burton muses over what makes art. Is art determined by the illuminati who decide what ‘good art’ is? Is it determined by what is popular? Is it determined by the (perceived) artist? Is it determined by authenticity? Is it determined by the effectiveness of the salesman? Or is art absolute – determined only by its own qualities? Or can it be any or all of these things?

Amy Adams is a master at fragility and she is well cast here as Margaret. Christoph Waltz is also effective as the slightly delusional but charming plagiarist, Walter.

Burton’s movies have been decidedly hit or miss in recent times – his first fifteen years as a director are definitely better then his second – but Big Eyes may well mark a quality turn into a new phase sans the freak shows of his prior efforts (though, in a sense, Big Eyes is still about freaks).

Stuart Jamieson
www.bigeyesfilm.com