hammy...

Rating: 5/10 (15 July 2005)

I'm a huge fan of the first movie, and although I expected the best from this, very different version, I was not very happy with what I got.
Without ruining the story, I will say this: this version flips the static/dynamic character structure. Instead of Willy Wonka being the one to emulate, the strong character who impacts Charlie, it's the other way around. Charlie is, in fact, perfect. Too perfect, I thought. It didn't seem very real to me. Meanwhile, Willy Wonka was flawed -- which is not in itself a problem at all -- but his problem, and its solution, came so quickly that it didn't seem very real, to me, either.
As for the good stuff: the visuals were incredible. And incredibly distancing. Many, many things did not make any sense at all. Again, not necessarily a problem, but I felt that it kept many of the universal themes from coming out as strongly as they likely could have.
Another note about the four children: it seems we hear very, very little from them and about them. And there are few factory extras to keep us awestruck. Most of the awe comes from the set designs -- and some very crazy, kooky musical numbers that will have you going, "Huh?" I can't call this a bad movie or a badly done movie. Many things are stopping me from making that judgment. It looks spectacular. And Johnny Depp's performance is also totally, totally cool. But I guess, in the end, what it lacked for me was feeling. Something to keep your heart in it. It looked like a lot of plastic to me. Pretty plastic, but just plastic.