Review of Beetlejuice (1988) by John K — 25 Jul 2018
There's an interesting film in here somewhere. Better than many Burton efforts for giving us some audience identification characters grounding the film, at least briefly, in the real world before contrasting with the fantasy world.
This is the land of the dead, which has some inventive visuals and clever touches but is ultimately limited in scope. More could have been made of this intriguing place, or of the problems of Ryder's 'tortured' soul (or could have been if she was at all convincing in that role).
Unfortunately, once the titular character shows up, a brilliantly unchained Keaton, the filmmakers don't seem to know how to control him any more than the characters. Ultimately, he becomes not merely superfluous to the story, but detrimental to what the film was struggling to be about, taking it over completely in the final third.
It's bizarre and interesting that the antagonists are a send up of the dark-to-be-fashionable which Burton himself became.
This review of Beetlejuice (1988) was written by John K on 25 Jul 2018.
Beetlejuice has generally received very positive reviews.
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