Just Go See The Movie!!!

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2005)

Why oh why do people insist on comparing this movie to the 1971 version? I realize everyone is entitled to their opinion, but why can't this movie just stand on it's own? I am tried of hearing "You can't help but compare it to the original." YES YOU CAN! The 1971 version was a fantastic movie, and we all loved it as kids and most of us still love it today, but let's face it folks, it's not a truly great movie! For it's time, the effects were great and the set pieces were all really cool, but the acting was not exactly Oscar worthy!
***SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, SKIP THIS SECTION*** The only
thing I will say is that I could have done without the backstory about Willy and his father. To me, that's just dumbing down the audience. The screenwriter should have just left Willy as an enigma. We do not need to be told why he is the way he is.
I am glad they left in the scene from the book where Charlie sees the other children as they are leaving the factory at the end.
I also do not care that they changed the Golden Geese to trained squirrles or that they left out the Fizzy Lifting Drinks.
***SPOILERS OVER***
My advice is to just go see the movie. The sets are amazing and the story is closer to the book than the original version. Of course they changed a few things.
By the way, that's another pet peeve of mine, when people complain that they change things from the book or leave things out. People need to understand that it's incredibly difficult, most times, to be 100% faithful when adapting a book to the screen. When people read a book, they read at their own pace. They put the book down, walk away, re-read certain passages, etc. When you adapt for the screen, you have to pace the movie so that the average person can keep up. Also, you have to trim some stuff or, for the most part, all movies would be 4-6 hours long! Go see this movie and enjoy it on it's own merits. If you don't like it, fine, but don't hate it because it's different than the first one or because it's different from the book.