Some fun visuals - decent remake

Rating: 6/10 (12 November 2005)

This remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory pretty much plays it safe, so there's little new here. To compare it to the original would leave it a step below, especially in the musical numbers and the pull of the main characters. Freddy Highmore and David Kelly are decent. Willy Wonka as sort of a child-adult here comes across pretty flat and unnecessarily grotesquely androgynous. What's the point? Anyway despite that, the factory looks interesting and there were some ingenious placings of the Umpa Lumpas. Particularly liked the strange scene in the jungle where Wonka recalls meeting Umpa Lumpas and bringing them back. So, is it worth owning? Not really, I'd pass. It'd be worth viewing if you like fantasies or enjoy the original.