Boy, was I ever excited to see this movie. It’s a cartoony ‘80s comedy directed by Tim Burton! And did you see its trailer? It’s bound to be great!
It stunk. The movie dragged on forever with characters I did not care about and a plot that seemed pointless in the worst possible way. I know that it’s not right to judge a screenplay based on the movie having not read the screenplay itself, but this movie seems terribly written. Each scene seems to be without purpose, even to the point that many scenes in the film could be rearranged and it would make no difference. The plot doesn’t built, the twists are dull or insignificant, the beginning is a waste of time, and the climax, while containing some strong elements, has a scene with Pee Wee rescuing animals from a burning pet store that has nothing to do with anything else in the entire film. Why in the world should the climax be unrelated? Who thought this was a good story?
That being said… this movie is so beautiful. The darkness, the colors, the lights, and all the theatrical visuals make it a distinctly ’80s Burton work of art. So, so, so many shots in this film are breathtaking, and they inspire me to try to reach their level of majesty should I ever become a filmmaker. I almost wish that this film did not have Burton as a director. Had he not done this piece of junk and instead worked on a project with a good story during this time period, he might have made a movie I would have adored. However, if it led to the ’89 Batman, I guess this movie was meant to be.
