Excellent adaption of Roald Dahl's classic book

Rating: 8/10 (9 November 2005)

First off, I am NOT a Johnny Depp fan at all. When he bites the dust in Nightmare on Elm Street, I cheer! (just kidding) Also, I'm not sure if what I say about the movie could be considered a spoiler, but I've gone ahead and marked the message as such just to be safe since I do discuss some of the differences between the Gene Wilder version and this one. So, you've been forewarned! In all seriousness, I loved Gene Wilder's version in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But, have you ever wondered WHY the title was changed? It was because Roald Dahl was absolutely against that version of the movie, so they had to change the title. He was angry with how they had changed the story.
I think if Mr. Dahl were alive today, he would have approved of this version, and so do I (and I still like the first one, but not as much as this).
Wonka is shown as aloof in this movie, and he was in the book as well. Charlie does nothing to anger Mr. Wonka as he did in the first movie. I never really liked that since in the book, Charlie always did what was right and NEVER thought about breaking the rules, so that always kind of bothered me in the first movie. Also, Wonka NEVER got angry in the book, but Gene Wilder's character gets SO angry at Charlie and Grandpa, it even scared ME as a child and I thought it was actually pretty mean.
Tim Burton, as dark as his movies usually are, surprised me with the amount of color in this movie. In no way did I feel cheated and all the kids did great. They played their parts to perfection. Violet was just as obnoxious as she was in the book. Veruca was spoiled as ever and Mike and Augustus were just as disgusting as they were in the book.
I think what made the book so wonderful was imagining all those wonderful sites the children saw as well as the Oompa Loompas. Tim Burton has brought those visions to life. Deep Roy playing all of the Oompa Loompas did an excellent job and he probably had the hardest job of anyone in the cast. Where you see multiple versions of him, he had to film EACH one of those parts separately! If you notice, they each move differently and have subtle differences. Kudos to the Deep Roys! I introduced my 9-year-old daughter to the Gene Wilder version about 3 years ago and she absolutely fell in love with it. Any time it was on TV, she HAD to watch it. Then, she went to see Burton's version and she loves that one better than the Gene Wilder version, and she hasn't even read the book yet (I have to dig my copy out for her to read because I KNOW she'll love it!) You're going to have people defend either the Wilder or Depp version, or there will be those like me that like both. However, I feel this is the version that really hones in on Dahl's vision and for that, I think he would have been proud of Burton's attempt. I know I appreciate it.