eh... mediocre treatment

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2005)

Like most of Tim Burton's movies lately, he seems to focus more on style than substance. In Planet of the Apes, the visuals and set designs were absolutely fabulous, but the story was severely lacking. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is no different. Both Apes and Chocolate are re-interpretations/remakes, but neither of them add anything to the original. In the case of Chocolate, it takes quite a bit away.
Johnny Depp looks absolutely freaky and disturbing. His face and voice are all wrong and reminds me of an amalgam of Michael Jackson, Ziggy Stardust, and Caesar Romero's Joker from the campy old 70's Batman shows... that or a woman who's had 1 plastic surgery procedures too many. The eerie smile and prosthetic teeth make him look like some kind of monster, a far cry from the endearing but eccentric character portrayed by Gene Wilder in the 1971 original.
Ironically, that movie was called Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, it focuses a lot on Charlie and his life of poverty. This one is called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and focuses too much on the hideous Willy. They bring in the back story of Willy's abusive father in the form of flashbacks, which is completely unnecessary. The kids had a lot of personality in the original movie, but here, they are annoying and cursory. Charlie has no personality and very few lines.
other problems: One segment (2001: Space Odyssey parody) looks like they bought all the left over props from Men in Black II. The new Oompa Loompa songs suck! They are also not cute and don't have any catchy songs anymore. Watching this movie was an ordeal.
"Don't touch that squirrel's nuts!" -- Willy Wonka. Don't touch this movie either.