Unique take! Last time I rewatched Beetlejuice, I realized I don’t really like it, and I think you’ve hit on why. Also hated the underage forced marriage bit.
I have found that Tim Burton movies do not resonate with me the way they seem to for others, but I’ve never really tried to explore why. This review gives me some insight on that perhaps; will watch with a different perspective if I ever watch any of his films again.
I wonder if some of this bland suburban-ness you mention isn't a direct result of Burton's stint as a Disney Animator early in his career? He ultimately left the studio because his dark leanings were too off-brand for Disney. So I wonder if the wholesome happy ending was him trying to conform to a Hollywood standard that originally rejected him? You have to also wonder if the studio heads didn't let Keaton run wild for the same reason. In any event, I confess I haven't seen this movie since its original release, so I trust that it hits differently today. But I agree that Keaton, Davis and Baldwin were all very underutilized.
I only ever saw bits of this movie, and the bits always seemed intensely annoying. Thank you for confirming that I don't have to go back and watch it properly!
I think non-White non-Straight Mainstream Weirdness actually terrifies Tim Burton as much as it fascinates him, because as I said elsewhere(?) recently, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS has a very conventional third act for all the craziness that's supposedly on offer. Jack Skellington kidnaps Santa Claus but doesn't mean him any harm—though he does give him to three kids who hand him off to the film's REAL villain, Oogie Boogie! Oogie is voiced, by the way, by a Black actor, Ken Page (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656238 ), which gives credence to your point of how ultimately conventional and Straight White Burton's "weirdness" actually is.
Jack delivers creepy Christmas gifts to children who react in terror (What? Seriously??? If Santa had given me or my brothers a shrunken head for Christmas, we'd have been delighted!), resulting in NORAD shooting him in Santa's Sleigh out of the sky! Then he has to save his love interest, Mary, along with Santa from Oogie Boogie, which he does by a conventional Big Damn Hero moment—and after suitably chastised by Santa for not staying in his lane, the end of the movie is him wooing Mary with a song.
Between this and BEETLEJUICE, it looks like Tim Burton "cah-rayzy!" only goes as far as Johnny Depp in weird makeup doing a "silly walk" style dance number in ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
Unique take! Last time I rewatched Beetlejuice, I realized I don’t really like it, and I think you’ve hit on why. Also hated the underage forced marriage bit.
I have found that Tim Burton movies do not resonate with me the way they seem to for others, but I’ve never really tried to explore why. This review gives me some insight on that perhaps; will watch with a different perspective if I ever watch any of his films again.
Thanks, as always!
Compare this to the animated television series based on the film, which goes whole hog into exploring the otherworldliness the film only hints at.
oh that's interesting. I don't think I even knew there was an animated series!
It aired in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s on ABC and FOX on Saturday mornings (and won an Emmy). I talk more about it in my animation books.
I wonder if some of this bland suburban-ness you mention isn't a direct result of Burton's stint as a Disney Animator early in his career? He ultimately left the studio because his dark leanings were too off-brand for Disney. So I wonder if the wholesome happy ending was him trying to conform to a Hollywood standard that originally rejected him? You have to also wonder if the studio heads didn't let Keaton run wild for the same reason. In any event, I confess I haven't seen this movie since its original release, so I trust that it hits differently today. But I agree that Keaton, Davis and Baldwin were all very underutilized.
I only ever saw bits of this movie, and the bits always seemed intensely annoying. Thank you for confirming that I don't have to go back and watch it properly!
Annoying, yes.
Like kids at that stage of riffing negatively off anything/everything adults say or think.
Free-ride scripting.
Zzzzzz....
I think non-White non-Straight Mainstream Weirdness actually terrifies Tim Burton as much as it fascinates him, because as I said elsewhere(?) recently, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS has a very conventional third act for all the craziness that's supposedly on offer. Jack Skellington kidnaps Santa Claus but doesn't mean him any harm—though he does give him to three kids who hand him off to the film's REAL villain, Oogie Boogie! Oogie is voiced, by the way, by a Black actor, Ken Page (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656238 ), which gives credence to your point of how ultimately conventional and Straight White Burton's "weirdness" actually is.
Jack delivers creepy Christmas gifts to children who react in terror (What? Seriously??? If Santa had given me or my brothers a shrunken head for Christmas, we'd have been delighted!), resulting in NORAD shooting him in Santa's Sleigh out of the sky! Then he has to save his love interest, Mary, along with Santa from Oogie Boogie, which he does by a conventional Big Damn Hero moment—and after suitably chastised by Santa for not staying in his lane, the end of the movie is him wooing Mary with a song.
Between this and BEETLEJUICE, it looks like Tim Burton "cah-rayzy!" only goes as far as Johnny Depp in weird makeup doing a "silly walk" style dance number in ALICE IN WONDERLAND.