Excellent Adaptation!

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2005)

Tim Burton has wonderfully captured the spirit of Dahl's book. I especially love the visuals. Tim Burton has always been a master of a unique look and feel to all of his movies. I am a huge Tim Burton fan, and a huge Johnny Depp fan. Depp is amazing, as usual. His Willy Wonka is far different than that of Gene Wilder, witch is good. I'm still a fan of the original, although I do have to say the original did stray from the book in many ways. The pacing of the film is quick, as it should be. Although, there is a small portion of the film where it lags a bit, but other than that, the pacing is wonderful. The performances are wonderful, especially that of Freddie Highmore, and David Kelly as Charlie and Grandpa Joe. One other small little complaint was once they enter the factory, the center of attention tends to lead toward Willy Wonka instead of Charlie. The Oompa Loompas are great. I really enjoyed the fact that they were all voiced by Danny Elfman. Johnny Depp really does do a wonderful job as Willy Wonka. I'm kind of bugged that some people are comparing his performance to Micheal Jackson. First of all, Depp himself said he didn't portray Willy Wonka as Jackson, and was surprised when heard people were comparing the two. Second of all, Jackson loves kids, Willy Wonka hates them. And third, the book was written when Jackson was just a kid. And honestly, when I watched the movie, Micheal Jackson never even crossed my mine.
This is a wonderful adaptation from the book, and is a film that the whole family can enjoy. Although, Depp can be a bit creepy sometimes (which is great!!!) Now, I can't compare the two movies. Because honestly, they are completely different from each other. I am a fan of both movies, but if I had to choose one movie over the other. I'd probably go with Tim Burton's film. Great film. Nine stars out of Ten........Although, it is hard to top the tunnel scene in the Gene Wilder film.