Horrible, Awful, Terrible- um, not funny, dark- um...Horrible, Awf-

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2008)

My experience has been that re-makes seldom live up to the original. But this- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could scarcely be considered a re-make. UGH! Time watched is time gone forever. It was dark and twisted. For kids? Not mine. They could hardly sit through it for constantly comparing it to the original and were sorely disappointed in it.
Disappointed? What an understatement. Once my children left the room I totally dissed this film but good. Johnny Depp is such an accomplished actor (IMO) I simply thought it was such a shame he did this film.
Boring? There were plenty of moments that seemed to drag by. Dark? From moment one to the excruciating end the film is filled with dark, eerie and uneasy dialog, sets and characters.
How it earned awards is beyond me; although the majority were for the film itself (i.e. costume, editing, hair, production and so-on). I do note there were awards for acting itself to a few actors (Depp and Highmore specifically). But the film was just plain NOT ANY GOOD.
I can only guess that in doing a re-make of such a children's classic with such popularity the challenge was to be "better" (why else a re-make), but how can you top or better something that was so perfectly tuned? You make the copy something that is so drastically different that it mostly competes on another level. With that- I give August & Burton Credit... it was defiantly on a different level.
The thing is I usually genuinely enjoy the work of Tim Burton. He is so creative and artistic and credit to his work-peers. But this movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... WAS NOT ANY GOOD.
When I read stuff like: John August had never watched Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory until "after" he finished the script. (Which to me is hard to believe) but then to hear he said he was surprised at how much darker the 1971 version was as compared to his version??? Puh-leeze! Only if the lights are out and you're watching on an old b/w set! Darker? But, enough of this. I'm sure you understand by now how I felt about this alleged re-make. There are those who like and those who don't. I'm not trying to sway a vote here, simply giving you the impression of how awful it was so you don't have to actually go through the torture yourself and view it. Good luck! LOL.