basildave

I really wanted to like this movie, I was a big fan of the original, which offered a whimsical version of the afterlife and used humor to make a subtle point about a disillusioned bourgeois couple and a down to earth, albeit, unlucky one. I expected a deeper look at Lydia Deetz, her daughter and maybe a little glimpse at the Maitlans "moving on"... What I got was a meandering, aimless and completely nonsensical plot with little to no humor thrown in, despite the talents of one of the finest comedic actresses alive (Catherine O'Hara). The fates of the other primary characters were equally pointless but not funny or amusing. I spent the entire movie waiting for something to happen or for the presence of the main character to kick off something spectacular, like in the original. This movie is making tons of money, and there is a special place in my heart for the actors in it, so I hope they benefit from it but I certainly didn't.

I found this film frustratingly emotional but lacking the ability to really push me towards caring about the characters that I wanted to care about. I've read about many of the scenes that Spielberg painted in this film (from past documentaries on him) and I felt like this was just a collection of those scenes and the ending scenes were all rather pointless. I think a real historical drama on Spielberg getting various movies made ( like Jaws or Close encounters) with his teenage years just given a (first half of the movie) sequence, would have worked better. Overall, it was okay, entertaining enough to keep my kind off the flight I was on, however, it's not Spielberg's best work.