Noooooooooo...

Rating: 3/10 (17 May 2006)

Tim Burton: great. Johnny Depp: great. Roald Dahl's book: a classic. The 1971 Gene Wilder original: great. This version: terrible. Problems: Depp's performance (embarassing), replacing the original Oompa Loompa song with a succession of ill-conceived attempts at a 'Best Original Song' OscarTM (God, no), changing the story (Charlie's 'test' of the original is dropped and replaced with an awful 'happy families' ending). There are some good points, such as the performances of Deep Roy and David Kelly, and the occasionally fabulous CGI; but in summary the film is an over-stylised, incoherent mess. If you have any fond memories of the book or the Wilder version, then don't go there.