Even better than I anticipated

Rating: 9/10 (16 July 2005)

I was extremely excited for the opening of this film, as I love Johnny Depp's movies and always appreciate Tim Burton's creative spin on things. I think they both out did themselves. I try to not compare it with the first movie, because the Burton version is clearly based off the book, but I found this movie better than the original. Mainly because the first Willy Wonka movie scared me to death. Now I thought with the second one, Burton would attempt to be creepy, but rarely was I spooked throughout the film. I was surprised that people brought their children while waiting for the film to begin, yet the film proved to be true to it's PG rating. The only thing is most of the jokes are better appreciated by viewer's old enough to understand irony, the social awkwardness of Willy Wonka, the sassiness of the grandparents, etc. But I found that the kids in the theater would laugh at different outcomes of the children, and one adorable boy next to me gasped with horror and suspense when Charlie attempts to open the candy bars. Each actor did a fantastic job, from Depp to the Ompaa Loompa, played by one guy. I thought the children were cast perfectly. Freddie Highmore is incredibly precious, and notably I thought the girl who played Veruca Salt was perfect. Stylistically, it's pure Burton, and every single shot and scene is so detailed and constructed with such visual stimulation, nothing is left out. I'd see it for that purpose alone! Adding a background to Willy Wonka's life seemed risky, but in the end made the character much more endearing, less odd. Depp does a really great job at making him come to life, and what's so great about Johnny Depp as an actor is despite the fact that he's a huge star, I don't feel like I'm watching a big name actor try to be someone else. He is still able to turn himself into the entire character. I knew the movie would be entertaining, but I did not think it would be so funny. I laughed out loud at so much. The oompa loompa songs are actually quite catchy, and the oompa loompa are not as creepy as the first film. Furthermore, the music composition by Elfman is of course, genius. Overall, you can see a lot of effort was put into the film and it truly paid off. I really hope for some Oscar nominations for this one, even if it's a silly movie, everything was done beautifully.