Disappointing and heartless

Rating: 4/10 (15 July 2005)

There is no heart to this movie. I had no idea what to hope for or fear. The first 30 minutes are entertaining as they mainly focus on the Bucket family, but as soon as we step foot in the chocolate factory (not nearly as lush as one would like), the film dies. The Oompa Loompas have far too much screen time and you can't understand the lyrics to most of their songs. While Johnny Depp's Wonka is humorous in his sissy way (reminiscent of his performance in Sleepy Hollow I might add), his character "arc" (as tiny as it is) is not believable. The golden-ticket winner kids (with perhaps the exception of Violet) do not improve upon their predecessors. I didn't mind Burton's darker interest per say, but all in all very disappointing. The highlight of the film were the costumes by Gabriella Pescucci.