Beetlejuice - Review

Right off the bat, this movie is not for everybody. I think there is a very certain group of people this movie is made for. When I was going to high school, it was extremely sorted. By that, I mean that if you were a hot girl, you sat with all the other girls that every guy had a crush on. The football players hung out with each other, the potheads, the academics, the headbangers, the library bookworms, etc. You get the picture. However, there were those people who would dress with things from Hot Topic, maybe had a bit more of a gothic style to their wardrobe and hair/makeup, and maybe some of them were in band or theatre. If you know what group I'm talking about, this movie is for them. Or, if you wish Halloween was all year and like wacky imagery, then Beetlejuice is for you. Tim Burton can turn quite a few people off with his style and it's important I address that before someone goes into this movie blind. I watched this movie with my dad tonight and he was having none of it. He's the kind of guy that works in a high-end business, wears a suit every day and comes home to watch hockey/football and hang with the dog. Doesn't really match the Hot Topic crowd I described earlier huh? As for me, I was always kind of an outcast and always looked into each group with a bit of intrigue. That crowd I mentioned before is no different. I have a tiny secret love for Tim Burton's wackiness, but I still think Beetlejuice could have been better. Maybe it was some of the characters that were supposed to be normal but they were acting really weird and the humour (excluding Beetlejuice's of course) wasn't all that funny. However, I'm always a big advocate for musical numbers and a good soundtrack in films and Beetlejuice has two great scenes with dancing and some great music. But by far, the biggest miss was the under-usage of Beetlejuice himself. I won't spoil how he acts or what he does but, he's Michael Keaton and you can't go wrong with Michael Keaton. If you like Tim Burton, then check it out. If not, then this isn't the movie for you. I liked what I saw but don't consider it a classic by any means. Maybe it's another one of those movies where I didn't grow up with it so I don't have the nostalgic mentality to it. Overall, it's a pretty decent flick.