Divided

Rating: 5/10 (21 May 2011)

Not as good as I thought it would be. I, like many others, is a great admirer of Tim Burton's work, but he does seem to have problems with telling a story outright and leave it at that.
First off, I am not that big a fan of either the '71 version or musicals in general. And to make a movie like this, you have to have an angle to improve it. I wish they would have made this without the musical numbers. I agree with many on this page, that the songs serve very little purpose other than giving Danny Elfman and his band some clout. They are very well produced, but they are distracting and are not that memorable.
I am also fond of Johnny Depp but I think he hits the wrong note. I was actually quite sick of this creepy character about halfway through the movie.
There are some good moments and I especially loved the relationship story between Charlie and his grandfather. Remember the drunk contractor from Fawlty Towers? This is him. Unfortunately, the character development takes a backseat, while the obnoxious other children are dealt with. It adds some darkness to the plot but is not that interesting.
I don't know. I kept hoping it would get better and it never rose above anything than a mildly amusing experience with a lot of creative set decoration. Nothing more.