A good film that could have been great

Rating: 4/10 (15 March 2007)

Kind of a disappointment. All the ingredients were there for this to be a great film: classic source material, visionary direction, great star. I guess where it fell flat was in the script. It's got a few moments of great dark humour, but much of it was too light and fluffy; I guess it is a kid's film, but the original film was much darker. Also, it ignores Charlie for a large portion in the middle, focusing on Wonka, and then allows him to win by default. There's no sense that he did anything right - he just kept his mouth shut and won the prize. And the father subplot really doesn't work. Still, it's not a bad film. The visuals are great, and Depp's performance, while hit-and-miss at times, is pretty funny. The acting is good all-around, the direction is fun, and the music didn't really bother me. Neither did the Oompa Loompas. The musical numbers felt a bit out of place, but the songs were decent. Overall, a good film that could have been great.