A real disappointment

Rating: 5/10 (13 February 2006)

The test of a really great film is whether you still enjoy it after you've watched it ten times with the kids. Tim Burton's film version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", like eating too many Wonka bars, has left me with a slightly sick feeling in my stomach.
I'm a big a fan of the original film (called "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" to the annoyance of Roald Dahl) and so was hugely looking forward to taking the kids to see the remake. However even the advent of CGI and a multi-million dollar budget couldn't disguise the fact that Burton has added very little - somehow the magic, comedy and grotesqueness of the original were lost .
To me the main characters are far more 2 dimensional and the cloning of a middle aged Asian man as the Oompa Loompas didn't really do it for me. Charlie (who usually looses a parent or two in his other films) was far too grumpy. I might leave him my funeral home but certainly not my Chocolate factory.
The Christoper Lee back story was the one improvement however I still pine for the original.