As Delightful As Chocolate, But It Also Has Its Minor Flaws

Rating: 8/10 (17 July 2005)

In 1971 Mel Stuart created a film based on a book by the man of the name Roald Dalh. Many people during their youth were forced to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in school, for summer reading programs, or a competition. The book contained a very original idea and was a great strive in fantasy, but definitely not a classic book. Stuart in 1971 tried to bring the story to life, creating unforgettable characters and scenes. That film, even with the great Gene Wilder playing Wonka had its flaws. Like the book, it did not seem dark enough to portray its message of how people in the world and children could be ignorant and not care about the important things in life. Also, the film lacked character development. The only character people could really come close to was Charlie.
In 2005 the 1971 movie was updated by the great and very unique film maker Tim Burton. There were things about his remake that were much better than the first film, and then there were areas where he greatly flawed. Burton could had done what neither the book or original movie did, create a fantasy tale that could finally be considered a great classic that would be remembered and revered throughout the ages.
What was good about the movie? The film was darker and more intense in some areas. It did a good job of getting the moral of the story stuck into the audiences' heads. The orchestration by Danny Elfman was amazing (the opening theme was probably one of the best I've heard in a movie). Truly the music was well worth the price of admission. In the movie there was more humor than in the third generated by Depp who played Wonka. Maybe what Burton did best though was not only develop Charlie's character, but he gave the background on Willy Wonka. *SPOILER* Even though it meant taking out scenes that were in the original movie. *SPOILER ENDED*
So what was bad about the film? Depp did do a wonderful job portraying Wonka, but he was too feminine sometimes and did not play the character as well as Gene Wilder. When Depp's Wonka and Wilder's Wonka are compared, the two seem to be two different characters. Also, Burton used too much CGI in the movie. The original seemed much more realistic. Even though Elfman's score was probably the highlight of the movie, there was something in it that was not so great. *SPOILER* Remember the original Ompa-Lumpa songs? They where not in the movie and replaced with more updated versions that were nothing like the originals. What even made it worse was that the Ompa-Lumpas no longer even resembled the originals. That was probably the worst thing that Burton messed around with from the original film.*SPOILER ENDED* The final problem with the film though was its finale. The film never seemed to end, and it seemed Burton tried too much to pound the theme into the audiences head. If he would had cut the film shorter, it would had maybe made the film into a film for the ages.
All in all, Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a commendable attempt at creating a classic film. Burton had the right idea of how the film should had been created in 1971, but obviously tried to hard to fix some of the problems that the original contained. It was a better film than the first, but still Roald Dahl's story has yet to be perfected and it may never be in the end.