Not what I expected...

Rating: 2/10 (28 July 2005)

Was it just me or did Johnny Depp sound exactly like Michael Jackson? Even the billboard I saw after viewing the movie reminded me of the MJ look. I've always been a Johnny Depp fan, but I can't give him high marks for this one. The film had highlights of added humor and far more flashbacks than the life of Charlie. Wonka is depicted as a lunatic and the film lacks a good moral story. The humor in some scenes revolves around immoral acts such as Charlie's father stealing caps from the toothpaste factory.
Slugworth didn't lurk around each golden ticket winner, so there wasn't any temptation for the children to be deceptive. Instead the film revealed that all of the children were "rotten". This area of the film perturbed me. There was no character building, learning from mistakes, or any scruples to to this wonka story except, "you won Charlie because you were the least rotten kid"
The classic songs were replaced with either flashbacks or humorous antics such as the grampa dancing like the Six Flags Commercials.
As the children enter the factory there was this somewhat amusing set up with singing toy dolls, yet it self-destructs and the toys catch on fire. You could literally see the dolls melt and eyeballs sliding off! Once that happened, it was not amusing but sick. Willy wonka was right there behind them, ready to pull out his cue cards to begin the explanation of his factory, you would think he would know what to say, but for some reason his role in this film was to be the look alike MJ insane guy, with a horrible father who would not allow him to eat chocolate. As far as I could tell that was the only reason he ran away from home.
Gene Wilder from the original was not insane, but funny, goofy, playful, and serious when it came to someone stealing his ingredients. On the other hand Depp just didn't like kids and really expressed that with Mike TV when he kept pretending that he didn't even hear him.
Other than Mike bringing his wimpy dad and Violet bringing her baton twirling mom, the others brought the same gender of parent as the original. The differences were in acting abilities. Other than Mike TV and Charlie, the kids did not act with as much intensity as the original and the parents did not show a great sense of loss or love as their children were stretched or juiced. It seemed as if they went along with Wonka and knew their kids were rotten. For example, Augustus's mom didn't scream out like she did in the first one as he is being sucked up through a pipe. Veruca's father had to be pushed into the "bad nut" shoot by a squirrel. Yes I said squirrel. They changed the 'golden egg' to nuts and a bunch of nut crackers - squirrels. The motif of insanity is played on in that scene. Mike TV did not say anything once he was removed from the TV by his father as a little person. His father didn't reflect much facial emotion when they announced he would need to go through the taffy puller machine. The Granpa was OK, but not as 'into' it as the first one. Veruca didn't put her whole heart into being the spoiled brat, she was a little better when she was trying to get a squirrel, but once they carried her to the shoot, her acting abilities were lessened.
The Oompa Loompas were all the same guy - just duplicated and were not midgets, but little men. Their music was different and included many wardrobe changes and even swimming formation acts. They sang after each child disobeyed and made up a song including their name. They left out the Oompa Loompa song - one of my favorites. The oompa loompa also posed as Wonka's psychologist, another indication that Wonka was a little off.
The improvements were the special effects of the elevator and utilizing it during several scenes instead of just the last one. Also, showing the characters leave the factory at the end, was an added plus.
The bubble scene where Charlie and Grandpa fly up was not on this film, and most likely because that was a character building part of the original, where Charlie learned from his mistake and did the good deed giving back the gobstopper. He showed honesty, bravery, and selflessness Burton's film did not show that heart, softer side. It was all about colors.
The added storyline was the relationship between Wonka and his father, which was less than entertaining. Every time there was a flashback, Wonka would black out, thus indicating his further entrapment to insanity. He was reunited with his father at the end of the movie and found enough forgiveness to accept Charlie's family into his factory, but they still kept their little crooked house and moved it into the factory. That was strange - you would think they would have given that up! The other added story was how Wonka found the Oompa Loompas and saved them, yet made them his slaves for chocolate.
Overall I did not see a real moral strength to this film, but merely colors, lights, and sounds... but even the sounds weren't as good as the classic music featured in the original. The children were made out to be brats, with Charlie being the "less rotten" of the bunch thus winning the prize. So it would seem it is a typical Hollywood film reflecting what our society, or is it a reflection of what our future holds... uncaring parents, rotten children, and no emphasis on morals.