Tim Burton drops the ball!

Rating: 5/10 (23 July 2005)

I disagree with most of the comments I have read, although the movie was kind of dark, anyone who knows Tim Burton movies, will know that he is a strange individual and this is normal movie making for him. The movie is just fine for kids, as a matter of fact, your kids will enjoy the movie more than you will. You will have trouble staying awake, especially during the musical scenes. Having said that, their where many problems with this film. First, growing up seeing Willie Wonka (Gene Wilder) was an opportunity to see a classic story that you could watch whenever you felt down, Charlie's character was so believable and heart warming, he represented someone that a lot of people could relate to. The new version jumped around so much, you never got a feel for Charlie, as a matter of fact, the story seemed to be more about Willie Wonka than Charlie, unlike the original. Second, some of the most memorable parts of the original movie where the musical numbers, especially Willie Wonka, Charlie and the Oompa-Loompa's. The new version bordered on annoying. Third, Tim Burton dropped the ball on this one, it could have been a great movie if he would of gone with a sequel, instead of a remake. The story line was already there for him to follow, Charlie grows up and realizes that he is not a child anymore, so he invites five new kids to find one like himself when he was young to help him come up with new ideas. It would have been easy to come up with new characters and ideas with todays technology. Fourth, although I like Johnny Depp as Willie Wonka, I think he over played the character, which would not have been the case if this was a sequel, because then he would be creating his own character as a grown up Charlie, who would be about the same age as Depp now anyways. Gene Wilder is irreplaceable as Willie Wonka, like Marlon Brando as the Godfather or Al Pacino as Tony Montana. The Oompa-Loompa character was even more of a disappointment, the idea of getting one person and CGIing him into the scenes to create more of them was not only ridiculous, it was a disservice to the many "little people" who probably have trouble finding good work in Hollywood as it is. Last, I was extremely disappointed with this new version and even sadder to say, I definitely will not be adding this one to my DVD collection when it comes out. It does not even come close to reaching the classic status of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!