Imaginative and Different

Rating: 7/10 (29 July 2005)

There are a lot of good things about this version of Roald Dahl's classic. I loved the interaction between Charlie and his family. The scenes in the chocolate factory are imaginative and fun to watch. Loved the production numbers with the Oompa Loompas, but found myself wanting the words on the screen...there were times I couldn't understand them. The fates suffered by the nasty children are all fitting and fun to watch. In the 1971 version, we never saw what happened to the kids later, but they did show them leaving at the end of this one. That was a nice change, and funny.
I think the movie would have been better had Wonka been made a little more likable and warm. He comes across and just a little too creepy to be likable. Having said that, there were several good laughs in this, and lots good special effects. You can certainly tell that Tim Burton directed this. It is indeed darkly funny, and some smaller children may be disturbed by this.