Almost exactly like Dahl would have wanted it

Rating: 10/10 (15 July 2005)

I was always a huge fan of Dahl's book and had read it many times before seeing the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The original film left me disappointed, mainly because Wilder's Wonka wasn't how the book had portrayed him, and the added scene with Charlie and Grandpa Joe sneaking a drink of the lifting stuff made Charlie out to be sort of a "bad" kid for an instant. This movie, however, has gotten the book onto film almost perfectly. The sets, costumes, characters are absolutely breathtaking-- they're all insanely colorful and unique and entirely Tim Burton's style. Johnny Depp played Willy Wonka very well. I won't get into specifics, but the approach he took with the character was less of Wilder's "father figure" and more of a brilliant and eccentric, yet somewhat callous, inventor. This movie will captivate audiences from the very beginning. I only wish Roald Dahl was still alive to see a movie that does justice to his classic book.