OK But Not Real Great

Rating: 4/10 (13 November 2005)

As a lifelong fan of both the book and the 1971 film, I was eager to view this movie to see what Burton did with it.
To its credit, it does add a number of aspects from the original book, such as the chocolate palace.
But it also adds a great deal of stuff, such as the backstory on Wonka's dad, which was never in the book. It also stretches out the ending in a way that I found kind of silly.
As others have said, Burton takes his usual off the wall direction in terms of sets. Depp is a deeply creepy Wonka.
If that were the sum of it, I'd be willing to chalk this up to just a different take on the story.
But the one thing that was really lacking for me is the same thing lacking in many films today, that sense of magic of story.
While the visuals are impressive, they are not all required. The original film managed to convey the spirit of the story without a bunch of effects.
For example, in the original film you didn't see what made the elevator fly, and you didn't need to. It was just part of the magic of the story.
Here, for some reason, we need giant jet engines to fly around.
If you're a Burton fan, this is certainly up there in terms of his style of movie.
But if you were looking for the spirit of the book, try again.