Rather disappointing effort from Tim Burton...

Rating: 6/10 (15 June 2009)

I know that the 1971 musical was unfaithful to the book, but I did much prefer that version to this well-intentioned but somewhat disappointing effort from Tim Burton, the director of Batman and Edward Scissorhands, and this adaptation was in some way more unfaithful in spirit than the 1971 film. The film does have some lovely sets and inventive visuals, the boat scene is fun if not as much as in the Wilder version, a great job is done with the Veruca Salt/squirrel scene and I liked the performances of Helena Bonham Carter, David Kelly and Freddie Highmore. But I was disappointed with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. He just lacked the charm and grace Gene Wilder brought to the character, and I don't think Roald Dahl intended a characterisation that was more Michael Jackson than Willy Wonka. Some of the cast overact, especially the girl who plays Veruca Salt, even for the character the spiteful spoilt brat act was way overdone. I liked the music score by Danny Elfman which is filled with whimsy and appealing oddballness(I much prefer his Edward Scissorhands and Nightmare Before Christmas scores however), but the Oompa Loompa songs were rather annoying with none of the noisy melodies memorable and were shot like a music video. Tim Burton evidently tried to make the story darker, and in some respects to the book, it didn't quite work. A good example was the case of the additional character of Dr Wonka, as much as I like Christopher Lee, and he did perform well, but his character was unnecessary, and the script with some over-explanatory narration lacked the sparkle of the 1971 film consequently. The grandparents did bring some comedy, and the movie does start off well. But the unfaithfulness of the last half, meant that the whole film felt rushed and lacking in charm and magic which the Wilder had aplenty. 6/10 Bethany Cox.