Liked better the original Wonka scoop of chocolate!

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2006)

Oompa Loompa Loompa Di Du.. OK, I will fall short from singing the infamous catchy tune from the celebrated children's classic film "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". Unfortunately, the song was not included in the Willy Wonka remake "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". That is not the only reason why "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was not able to surpass its predecessor. For those of you who are not familiar of the chocolate dark side of this sweet fable, here it is: Charlie Bucket is a sweet destitute boy who gets a golden ticket in his Willy Wonka chocolate bar which enables to him to get invited to the mesmeric Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. He takes his granddaddy along and encounters other golden ticket raffle-winning children who are definitely not a bunch of sweet vanillas. Wonka himself is an eccentric who probably had too many nuts in his ice cream as a child. Johnny Depp stars as Wonka; it is wilder than the original Gene Wilder "Wonka" performance. However, wilder does not necessarily signify better. Even though Depp was "depplicious" at times with his nifty verbose, it still did not satisfy my taste buds because of the unnecessary slapstick that was instilled in his character. Director Tim Burton does create a compelling Wonka World but he did have his "rocky road" in direction by sinking too much into Wonka's mundane childhood. Child actor Freddie Highmore was able to find neverland in his affecting performance in "Finding Neverland", but he did not exactly melt me with his inflated "Charlie Angel" effort. The rest of the cast: David Kelly as Grandpa Joe, Noah Taylor & Helena Bonham Carter as Mr. & Mrs. Bucket, and Christopher Lee as Dr. Wonka was not the supporting acting dessert I was craving for. "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" is not exactly a "bucket" of . , but I would also not spend too much golden money to get a golden ticket to see it. *** Average