VERY underwhelming

Rating: 4/10 (21 July 2005)

I hated this movie and the only thing I liked about it was that Depp and the fat kid were funny. The fat kid was over the top and did the most with his character except going more over the top eating all the candy when they were at the main candy area before he fell in the river. The actress who played Veruca Salt was awful (unlike in the first movie), the parents were very uninteresting for the most part unlike the somewhat memorable parents from the first movie. Violet was more entertaining when her gimmick was just being a obsessed gum chewer (in the first movie). The fat kid's mom was fine for just looking the part and Violet's mom personality was good but she didn't do a very good job in the movie. Grandpa Joe's and Charlie's relationship just wasn't there, except somewhat in the start of the movie (the 71 version did a better job with their relationship).
Charlie was more noticeable in the 71 version than in this version where Charlie looks the part, and only memorable thing was the predictable "I won't leave my family" statement at the end. The old version seemed to put much more emphasis on Charlie and Wonka. We see more of Charlie in a shorter film it seems. For instance the fizzy lifting drink scene. Wonka was very memorable in the first movie and sang a great song (Pure Imagination). In the newer version he brings nothing to the table except being funny to watch (like him getting really happy and moving along to the Oompa Loompa songs).
There are much better quotes in the old version, and a better ending. In fact they built up his home AND his school for instance so when you see Charlie pointing down and mentioning his home and school in the elevator, it means something because we experienced both of them in the movie. The old version had an excellent song by the owner of the candy store, whereas in the new version the songs are entertaining to listen to but none of them are very memorable except maybe for Augustus's one. It was funny though at first when Mike Teevee mentioned that after the Augustus song was finished he thought that what just happened was fixed.
The old version had the entertaining teacher of Charlie. The newer version had the somewhat funny grandma. There have been much more characters like the out of touch grandma in movies than of Charlie's teacher in the old version, so I prefer Charlie's teacher. The old version had a more straight forward story and it moved better. The story about Wonka's father in the new version wasn't very entertaining. The old version had the memorable menacing character of Slugworth, the new version does not. The candy area where the chocolate river is in the candy factory in the old version looked much better, and bigger than in the newer version.
The Oompa Loompa songs were much more interesting and subtle in the first version than in this one, like they were expecting the bad things to happen to the bad children and giving their thoughts on children in general (the Oompa Loompas in the old movie that is). In the new version most of the parents were horrible like Veruca's dad who just stood there when Veruca was about to fall in the hole. Mike Teeve's dad was incredibly boring, unlike his mom in the old version where she didn't have any interesting personality, but at least she interacted in the movie. In the old version the dad and Veruca interacted much more and much better. Gene Wilder was so much better as Wonka and much more interesting than Depp. I watched the new version and I thought of Wonka as a crazy moron and never did I care to know about his backhistory.
The time in and before the factory seemed much longer in this version. For instance in the new version they took more than 5 seconds or so (unlike in the old version) to explain the story of the guy with the fake golden ticket. There was also the computer that tries to know where the golden tickets are storyline that was amusing. In the new version the time in the factory seemed quick and the experience was underwhelming. The old version it seems a fairly long while they are in the factory. There wasn't any interesting interaction in the inventing room unlike in the prior version. In the new version they skip the everlasting gopstopper (or whatever its call) part for the most part and go right away to the 5 course meal gum part. There was also the great "I've got a golden ticket" song in the first movie.
The Oompa Loompas weren't very memorable in this movie, they stood out much more in the old version with their hair and makeup. I think if the new version is more like the book than the old version, than the old version of the movie is better than the book. I definitely felt better for Charlie, Grandpa Joe, and their family when Wonka told Charlie he won the factory and can take his family than in the newer version when I didn't care at all. I watched the old version of the movie as a kid in awe the first time I saw it, when I saw the new version all I can say is I was somewhat amused, bored, and underwhelmed.