It’s no secret that for the past decade or so Tim Burton’s career has been in a slump, as he has pumped out a series of bland films that range from inoffensive to downright awful. So, with the announcement and eventual release of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” audiences were wondering if he could recapture the magic that launched his career. The answer, in short, is yes. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is not a great film, but it does what all of Burton’s classics did and stays zany and entertaining throughout the runtime.
To give a couple non-quality related notes, the movie is obviously a Halloween movie, with, give or take, 80% of the runtime taking place on Halloween night, which makes the release a month and a half before Halloween quite strange. At the showing some people brought their young children, which is not advisable. The minimum age someone should be allowed to see this movie is probably 12, as certain parts are raunchy or macabre, and sometimes both at once, although that is to be expected from Burton. The movie is definitely worth watching but given how pricey the theater experience has become the smart move is to wait for the streaming/physical release in this case. Lastly, the “plot twist” in this movie is incredibly predictable, but it is still effective even though it was obvious to any viewer who paid attention.
To start with negatives, the movie is quite bloated, with more characters and plotlines than it knows what to do with, most notably Monica Bellucci’s character. The plotlines also seem to disappear from the movie entirely until they suddenly reappear in the climax for no discernible reason. Also, everything just seems to kind of work out by pure luck, the characters don’t really resolve anything themselves. Outside of plot details, like every Burton movie, there are a lot of plot issues though there isn’t much to dislike in this movie.
The biggest compliment one could give the movie is that it accomplishes everything it sets out to do. It is not taking any huge risks, so this does not make it a masterpiece, but it is clear there was a lot of thought and care put into making this. The makeup is fantastic with the different ghosts and dead people all looking wacky and distinct. The missing scalp and exposed brain on Willem Dafoe’s character is particularly good. The sets and locations are similarly exuberant. Most of the shots and set pieces are stylish and the movie has a distinct visual tone throughout. The characters are all consistently written, despite being pretty one dimensional. Some scenes turn into a strange kind of musical with bad lip syncing, but while this might sound bad it ends up being funny and in keeping with the bizarre tone of the rest of the movie, and it is clear that this was intentional. As stated in the introduction, the movie is not great, but it is not trying to be. It is made to be a good, fun movie and to keep an audience entertained and having a good time, which it does.
The movie, while bizarre, macabre and crass is undeniably entertaining and the passion of everyone involved shines through. This movie will not be everyone’s cup of tea but to clear things up: if you like Burton movies, you will like this movie. If you hate Burton movies, you will hate this movie. If you, like me, do not have any strong feelings on Burton either way, this movie is a decent way to spend a couple hours.
