Morbid fun

Rating: 7/10 (22 December 2010)

Tim Burton is quite the visionary. He has a knack for the dark, strange, and off-kilter. He also has the ability to creatively combine such elements with comedy, and yet also leave behind an aura of existential reflection. His films often create some sort of deeper emotion in the viewer, making a lot of his films dramas disguised as comedies. However, put all that to the wayside because Beetle Juice is just Mr. Burton having fun. The movie is about two people who die before going on vacation. Their ghosts remain in there house, where they must live for eternity. The problem arises when a family of nutty art freaks move into their house and start to take it apart and give it their own "artistic" flare. In order to get rid of these people they call upon the undead conman Beetleguese (pronounced beetle-juice like the title of the film). Wacky and grotesque situations occur from here, taking us on a bizarre ride.
Tim Burton's true artistic form comes through most of all in this film. The design of the characters and settings in this film are very cool. Particularly the spirit world, which is set up as a busy public office, reminding me a lot of a DPS office or a post office. Of course everything has some sort of ghostly flare to it and everything is very fun to look at and admire the work put into designing these aspects of the film. Then of course the people in this spirit world are equally crazy. The rule of thumb is that the way you look in the spirit world is the way you looked when you died. So I'm sure you can guess that there are some interesting looking people in this world. There's everything from a shrunken head victim to zombified football players who evidently died in some sort of crash. All of the main characters, especially Beetleguese himself, look very strange and off the wall, giving the film its consistently morbid yet humorous feel.
That tone is one of my favorite things about the film. Obviously, the whole film deals with death. But this morbid idea is made into something very fun and different. The film is never depressing or overtly morbid, instead it's a sarcastic kind of morbid that makes you laugh at the irony of the whole situation these characters get themselves into. It also helps when the characters are the same kind of satirical oddness. All of the characters are very unique and very fun and the cast does a great job portraying it.
Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin play the two leads, Adam and Barbara. They do a great job as the quiet newlyweds who don't want a lot out of life, but end up getting mixed up in so much more than they bargain for. They open the film very well, but it really gets nutty when the new family moves into their house after they die. This new family of three consists of two bizarre parents played by Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara. Jones plays Charles, the short tempered father who wants nothing more to relax in his new country home. Catherine O'Hara is the mother of the family, Delia, who is an aspiring "artist." Her character makes a lot of fun of the artists in this world who take abstract art way to far, so much that it just looks silly and makes no sense at all. She is neurotic and high strung, making her a hilarious character throughout the film. A young and beautiful Winona Ryder plays Lydia, the Gothic daughter of the family who is very into self-expression through bizarre and overzealous clothing. Then of course there's Michael Keaton as Beetleguese who is so grotesquely entertaining from start to finish.
I can't say a whole lot about this movie other than it simply being fun. It isn't a life changing film. It is brilliant and it is far from one of the best movies ever made. But it is definitely fun and holds plenty of entertainment. I got plenty of laughs from the film which is carried very well by a funny cast playing great characters. Tim Burton creates a fun visual experience in Beetle Juice so I wouldn't recommend missing this film. It's well worth the watch.