Lacklusture effort

Rating: 5/10 (22 May 2018)

Compared to the 1971 Gene Wilder version, this one beats it on visuals. And on music, if you like dance/pop music as the oompa loompa songs. The plot is also more true to the original source than the 1971 version. However, this one is inferior to Gene Wilders in every other way.
The films biggest weaknesses is WIlly Wonka. Something about Johnny Depps performance is off from start to finish. He tries to behave in a weird, eccentric way, but unlike Gene Wilder he fails to add any charm to the character. He comes across as a rude and socially inept character. His whole performance seems forced, an amazing contrast to how natural Depp is playing Jack Sparrow. Someone else should have been cast as Willy Wonka.
Charlie is also a problem here, he's a perfect saint like character, a Gary Stu. The charlie in the 1971 version was a good kid but he wasn't perfect. That makes him easier to relate to than the charlie in this version, who would never break any rules and altruistically puts everyone else before himself. Too goody two shoes, ugh.
Veruca salts actor also comes across as forced. She's a spoilt brat but she never shouts or loses her temper, in contrast to the 1971 Veruca. This one just says everything in the same, monosyllabic tone. The other golden ticket winners come across more naturally as bad kids, as they should do.
This film has some positive aspects, it looks impressive, the chocolate room in particular looks gorgeous, the ever lasting gobstoppers actually look like gobstoppers and it uses squirrels instead of geese. Violet turning into a blueberry is pretty hilarious. Unfortunately the film doesn't have enough hilarious moments. It plays very much as a "box ticking" film, it follows the source material competently but doesn't have much pure imagination of it's own.
As someone who grew up reading Dahls books, i expected a bit more.