Tim Burton's movies fail to impress

By Lily Isakson-Bell, Reporter

        I didn't have any idea what to expect going into this endeavor. I had heard of filmmaker Tim Burton before, but I had never actually seen one of his movies. So sitting down and watching five of them was exciting.
        Burton's movies, with their gothic and death themes, are a staple for Halloween, so now is the perfect time to watch them for the first time.
        Now do not get me wrong, Burton's films are gorgeous. He has a very distinctive style that works very well with the themes of his stories. Not to mention his partnership with Danny Elfman on the soundtracks of the vast majority of his films. The music, or lack thereof, can really make or break a film, and in all honesty, the soundtracks for Burton's movies are the only thing that makes them bearable to watch.

        For example, in “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” a movie about an overly ambitious pumpkin king and a pining corpse woman, the songs were what made me keep watching. The movie was dull, but everytime a song came on, I found myself perking up because they were always catchy or beautiful to hear. Kudos to Elfman for that one.
        Coincidentally, the film with the soundtrack I hated most was the one film of Burton's that I came away actually liking: “Beetlejuice.”
        “Beetlejuice” is fun in a way that only weird movies truly can be. The storyline surrounded a recently deceased couple, the Maitlands, trying to scare the unwanted Deetz family out of their house. It was delightful.
        From the Maitlands being hilariously bad at haunting to the Deetz's daughter Lydia being able to actually see the Maitlands despite their ghost-ness and becoming friends because of that, I enjoyed everything. Well, almost everything.
        The one unenjoyable part about “Beetlejuice” is the actual character Beetlejuice. He is rude, not to mention havoc-wreaking, and also a total creep. When the Maitlands are in peril towards the end of the movie and Beetlejuice is the only one who can save them, his one request is to marry Lydia, a 15-year-old. Beetlejuice is 600-plus years old.
        Luckily, Beetlejuice’s evil nature makes the ending all the more satisfying.
        Unfortunately, I did not enjoy other movies as much as I did “Beetejuice.” The film “Frankenweenie” was, to put it plainly, extremely bad.
        The plot is centered around a boy who resurrects his dog after the dog is hit by a car, and when the knowledge of how he did the resurrection spreads, everything begins to spiral into disaster. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, you would be wrong.
        “Frankenweenie” feels lazy, with every twist and turn feeling like the writers grasping at anything to make the movie watchable. The result of this desperation is a poorly thought-out story with unlikeable characters and an entirely unsatisfactory ending.
        The film being in black and white makes it worse. “Frankenweenie” was filled with boring visuals, a lacking soundtrack, and horrible execution.. I can easily say that this movie is probably the worst I have ever seen, and that is saying something because I have seen Adam Sandler's self-proclaimed 'worst movie ever' “Hubie Halloween.” All negative comments about Burton's movies aside, I would not say that watching his films was a waste of time. On the contrary, I would argue that it was a learning experience. I gave them a try, and discovered that I do not enjoy them. Here's to never having to watch a film of Burton's ever again.