The buzz on this film totally misses the mark

Rating: 5/10 (16 July 2005)

First this film promised to be a radical interpretation of the source material. Outside of a few tweaks and twitches, like the squirrel scene which I loved (the moniker gives that much away), this is very similar to the original in many ways. I prefer the kids in this version, they're saucier and better cast but I'm not sold on Depp's Willy Wonka. He's not in the same league as Gene Wilder. Wilder's Wonka (say that three times fast) came off as smarter and his reason for being so reclusive and gradually more misanthropic were better. Sure he was warmer, I think Gene Wilder is incapable of not emanating warmth, but it makes his performance that much more striking when he does have an outburst or a callous moment. Depp's stunted development and dislike of p p p parents falls short of expectations and the opening sequence just comes off as disturbingly anti-union and paranoid. Wonka has little humanity in the remake and rather that being "eccentric" he just seems childish, simple and cold.