Unique, Bizarre, and Fun, but Far From Perfect

Rating: 4/10 (7 February 2015)

The plot of this movie is definitely a unique one that has never been done before, that is for sure. The Maitland couple dies and starts their afterlife but are confined the their house that they previously owned. But as they are just ghosts, a new family moves in which is made up of a money scheming father, a artistic greedy stepmother, and a lonely daughter. The ghost couple make friends with the daughter, but it is their goal to make this obnoxious nuisance of a family and their cronies to leave the premises and themselves in peace. While they attempt to go through with their plans and figure out this new strange existence, they run into and seek the help of a "bio-exorcist" or scarer-of-the-living named Beetlejuice. He turns out to be crude unconventional rebel rouser and a real problem.
With a story as zany and morbidly themed as this, Tim Burton was the only logical choice, naturally the man for the job. This film also brought us one of many wonderful collaborations with the musical genius Danny Elfman. A side to Michael Keaton that I had never seen before was revealed through his character, it added a new depth to his skill in acting. While I did enjoy the overall idea of the strange and unusual film, it was far from perfect. The makeup was exquisite which it deservingly won an Academy Award for, but some of the other effects looked straight out of fake looking theme park attraction. It had the meticulously detailed diorama and the up close version that was even more fascinating when they switch over to that world, yet they also had ridiculously cheesy characters that brought the overall appearance down. I thoroughly enjoy stop motion animation but it's presence in much of the film seemed out of place and unnecessary.
To be honest, I am surprised that this film is so popular. It seems like a film that would appeal to very few, yet it draws people in. This movie made it on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Greatest Comedies. While I did find some parts amusing, a lot of the humor was really corny. The singing scenes were simply awful and I found Beetlejuice more offensive and annoying than comedic. The story also seemed to not be very focused. We had about seven main characters and no sense of direction. While I did love some aspects of it, I found more of it to just be disappointing.