Hmmmm.... I think I'm getting sick of remakes....

Rating: 6/10 (10 August 2005)

I must say the list of films that have been remakes that have been released within the last 2-3 years if quite a long one: "The Longest Yard," "War of the Worlds," "The Big Bounce," "The Bad News Bears," "The Stepford Wives," "The Ladykillers," "The Italian Job," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," and if you count the fact that it was for the BCC first "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe." I'm sure I've left a half-dozen out, and I did not include movies that are remakes of TV shows like "Bewitched." Of course, there are a lot of those too! Tim Burton's second or third cinematic remake is an interesting one. I actually liked his version of "Planet of the Apes," even though the first one is one of my all-time favorites and I was politically against its reworking. I thought Burton's charm might work again here. And, it almost did. Johnny Depp gives an interesting Parkey Poseyesque performance, the special effects are outstanding, and the message of how greed corrupts us all is indeed a good one. I haven't read Roaland Dahl's original story. From what I gather this film is pretty faithful to it. I guess I would've liked this movie more had I not seen the original. It is a very charming movie, with a great performance by Gene Wilder. I think what made it more pleasant was the surprises. When it was made in 1973, few children films had such dark elements and such great, sharp humor. And, I think Wilder's performance is better than Depp's because the former did not reveal Willy Wonka's sinister side as obviously as Depp did. I think as far as overall careers go, Depp will surpass Wilder who has not really made a good film in almost 20 years. But, when it came to Wonka, Wilder was better. The earlier film was made on a lower budget and did not have razzle dazzle special effects, but perhaps timing is everything. And, "Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory" was simply a film of its' time. The same might be said for some remakes, but alas not this one. It is not a complete waste of time by any means, but the shadow of its' predecessors looms over it and can not be ignored. Now, I 'can't wait' to see what they do with "King Kong." Like Burton, Peter Jackson is a good director, but the remake will not have Fay Wray and no amount of special effects can compensate for that.