Fans of the original film and book avoid at all costs

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 2011)

Spoilers below:
I bought the DVD today as my family and I all love the original film and book. I was hopeful when I saw that it was meant to be truer to the book, but frankly this is not accurate. The book was quirky and fun, this film is dark and dull and even the storyline varies from the original source.
One of the worst parts, is the normally excellent Johnny Depp. He was truly terrible in this role and came across as a retarded, antisocial creep. The children's personalities are not explored well and the parent's even less. They hardly show any emotion when the various children fall foul of their own actions. The music is dire and the vocals are unintelligible.
Tim Burton introduced a totally unnecessary back-story that attempted to explain the weird personality of Willy Wonka. It seems having a dentist for a dad, who doesn't allow you to eat sweets, turns you into a Peter Pan/ Michael Jackson undead sweet factory owner.
The only redeeming feature of this film are the sets. However, with 35 years of CGI advancements, they are not as good as I expected and are not much better than in the first film.
Overall, if you are a fan of the original, do NOT watch this film as it will only disappoint. Only a die hard Tim Burton fan would think this is better than the original and Gene Wilder is infinitely better than Johnny Depp who despite his considerable talent, cannot save this garbage.