lame in every possible way

Rating: 1/10 (17 July 2005)

For butchering Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one of the best stories of all time.
Except for the ending the remake was very close to the original, only with the charm, humor, and drama removed. Virtually every line of dialog was lame. Almost every comedic and dramatic opportunity was squandered. The biggest laughs came when Depp walked into a glass wall, gee thats clever.
Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors, but making Willy Wonka into an insecure Micheal Jackson man child was a horrible creative decision. As was revealing Wonka's past in vivid detail, including how he found the oompa loompas, destroyed the air of mystery behind the character.
The ending was a horrible - meet with the estranged father and heal his psychological wounds - piece of Hollywood crap.
Even visually, the film wasn't as good as I expected. It was vivid and detailed but again, lacked charm.
After this and the miserable Planet of the Apes, I hope Burton never does a remake again. I like his other movies a lot.