Ehh...

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2005)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... I loved the book, I loved the original. I walked into the theater optimistic, but expecting to see something that would, essentially, rape my childhood. The film opened well enough, and although I liked the first act, I was constantly anticipating the appearance of Wonka himself. When he finally showed himself, it became apparent that the film was not going to get any better with him in it. Not to say it was bad; I liked a lot of it, in fact. And although I usually like Johnny Depp in anything I've seen him in, he just didn't really deliver this time around. At times it seemed like the movie I was watching was not the movie he was acting in. At the end of the film, when he is reunited with his long-lost father, I felt a pang of relief; not for the character, but because I could finally stop watching the film that, for all intents and purposes, had ended seven minutes before.