Okay.

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2009)

This is one of the best Tim Burton movies I've ever seen!
But that's not saying much, since I despise Tim Burton. In fact, I didn't actually *know* this was a Tim Burton film, and when I popped it in my DVD player and saw his name on the opening credits, I nearly threw up a little into my mouth. I seriously considered turning the thing off right then and there, because I had already vowed never to see another Burton film.
But I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie, so I decided to give it a chance.
And in truth, I'm kind of glad I did, because it wasn't too bad. The premise was interesting and original. It was certainly a *different* take on the afterlife, and it definitely had me at times thinking "What would I do in this situation?" Which is a good thing. I liked the protagonist couple and was rooting for them. Also a good thing.
But in typical Burton fashion, it ends up trading coherence for oddity. This occurs as soon as the title character comes in. Betelgeuse the character makes no sense. His motivations, his situation, what it exactly *means* to say his name three times, none of this ever really makes sense in any coherent, consistent way. And Burton obviously doesn't care. He just wants to make things weird and over-the-top. So in the end, the plot really degrades into making no sense and going nowhere. How exactly is Betelgeuse apparently trapped in the model? No explanation offered. Why do the ghosts suddenly turn all old and dried up during the séance? No reason offered. It just makes things weird and over the top. What would have happened if the good guys *had* managed to say his name thrice during the wedding scene? No clue, Burton can't be bothered to think through his premise in any consistent way.
The result is a flashy, busy, climax, full of sound and fury and signifying NOTHING. In a movie where the whole plot was set up to be about a ghost couple trying to drive the living out of their house, the climax ends up being about stopping this *other* ghost from marrying one of the living. The plot has Officially Gone Nowhere.
And it's a shame, really, because this started out being a pretty good movie, and really could've been much, much better than it was. Step one would've been entirely removing Betelgeuse from Beetlejuice.
Jeez, they couldn't even manage to spell the title correctly.