Good movie, not as impacting as the original

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2005)

I hate to compare 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' with it's predecessor, but 'Willy Wonka' was such a wonderful movie that it's hard not too.
I enjoyed 'Charlie'. There were some wonderfully funny and wonderfully warm parts. The introduction of Wonka at the factory was potentially my favorite part(the song is still stuck in my head). Freddie Highmore is excellent as Charlie, and the showing of the family relationship he has is really touching. The scenes in the beginning with his family are some of the best(David Kelly is wonderful). Then comes the aforementioned scene of the unveiling of Wonka. Up to this point the movie is very enjoyable. Now arrives the factory tour, which is my only disappointment with the film. It seems very rushed to me, with each scene racing to get to the next child elimination. In 'Willy' they take time to appreciate all the wonders that are the factory. 'Pure Imagination' is deeply missed in this version. They just wizzed by to get to one less child and an Oompa Loompa song(which have nothing on the originals). For how visual Burton is, I'm really surprised at the little amount of time that is dealt to the wonders of the factory. I also felt there was too much focus on what was wrong with the kids, it was just evident in the original and not put under a giant magnifying glass. Also, Charlie and his Grandpa are hardly featured once the factory tour starts, when they really are the most wonderful part.
On Depp's performance, a wonderful performance by a top-of-the-class actor. In watching him, I couldn't even tell I'd seen him in anything else before. I don't think it was entirely the right interpretation of Wonka(but I also was in love with Gene Wilder's performance), but it was an amazing performance nonetheless.
I have to say, the scene with the squirrels is potentially the scariest thing I've ever seen. It jumps ahead of 'Christmas Vacation' for scariest squirrel scene.
The ending of the movie was very disappointing for me. I thought a lot of it was unnecessary and tried too hard to be touching.
All in all, it's a fine movie. It doesn't have the resonance of 'Willy', and I could have lived without it being made, but it is not a waste of a movie.