Customer Reviews

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favorite books as a child, so when I heard Hollywood was making a new movie based on the book, I jumped at the chance to see it. Having seen the first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which Gene Wilder starred in, I was a little skeptical about Johnny Depp stepping into his shoes in the new version. However, to my surprise the new version is closer to the original storyline of Roald Dahl's book. My only complaint was the look of Willy Wonka. He looked a little too eccentric for my taste, especially his flashback scenes to when he was a child. The actor who played Grandpa Joe was wonderful, but I wished Charlie had a little more personality. He was a bit dry compared to the other children who met their demises in the factory. I loved the sets with all the candy and chocolate, very creative, just as I imagined from the book. One part which I was disappointed in was the Oompa Loompas. They were only played by one character, not very original. It was a little boring to see the same person again and again. Overall this movie is great for anyone who loved the book and the original movie.

If you ever saw the original and liked it ....you will love
this version. Ever finished a movie with a smile....this is one
of them. Great sets, great casting of actors/actresses, and the
hardest working actor in this movie would be the oompa /loompas
character, you will believe me once you see the extra stuff they
have on the dvd and how hard he worked at his part.
So its a great entertaining feast for your imagination.
Either you will love it....or you will hate it.
I was also surprise to see the great Christopher Lee with a
Role....excellent...Enjoy

I think that all of you people who think that this movie is bad should get a life! Some people complain about the most silliest things. I for one really enjoyed the movie. The only thing that at first bothered me was how funky Willy Wonka looked. But once I got used to it I liked the way they did him. And all of those people who say that the original is better: It is good, but sometimes change is good to.

I love this movie. Johnny Depp as Wonka, Tim Burton directing.I was disappointed that this didn't get a best picture nomination. Very visual and the songs are so catchy. Oompaloompa's rock!

I must agree Johnny Depp did look a little too weird for his weird character. However, I got used to him and his voice suited the part. He was perfectly perfect and nobody could have done it better! I full-heartedly say that the new one is immeasurably better than the original. And I did not say this before watching the first one. It was really not as entertaining and impressive as I expected. Tim Burton is a creative genius and his version of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory kept me alert and my attention did not stray for a second.

A wonderful movie. If you're a Johnny Depp fan, you'll love it for sure. Johnny Depp never lets you down!! XD

A wonderful expressionist realization of a story that, at bottom, is about the viciousness and wonder to which children are equally susceptible, and the culpability of parents in the failings of their children -- i.e. for the parents' failure to cultivate in their children a sense of wonder and a healthy respect for the unknown. (That is why I think Burton's addition of the backstory regarding Wonka and his candy-hating dentist father is very much in the spirit of the original.) The Dickensian world of Charlie is lovingly recreated by Burton, replete with a leaning shack and twisted doors that suggest the German expressionist techniques evident in the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The Oompah Loompahs are perfect, and Tim Burton admirably avoids the racism implicit in the original story by making the Oompah Loompahs (all but a few, as far as I can tell, played by the same suave actor) without resorting to the campiness of the prior movie version, by making them much more clever than the rest of the characters in the story. Their musical numbers had me and my children laughing out loud, especially where in the song for Mike Teavee they become a perfect parody of 70's glam rock (nearly besting even Spinal Tap in this brief number). Tim Burton has his hits and misses, but this is definitely a big hit!

Many consider Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to be Tim Burton's best film in years, and perhaps it is. But it also falls a bit short when compared with the original. The story is very similar to the original, as after decades of never allowing anyone near his factory, Wonka decides to let a handful of kids inside, by lottery: five bars of his chocolate will have a priceless golden ticket inside. Of course, they are mostly horrible brats: a fat kid, a spoiled brat, a self-centered gymnast, a wanna be, and little Charlie Bucket, who manages to melt Wonka's heart and unlocks the secret of his relationship with fierce Wonka Sr, a Sith Lord. Wait, wrong movie. Same actor, however. This rendition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is somewhat darker than the original. It also goes into greater detail about the events that shaped Wonka's life. As wll as, more background of the strange little people known as Umpa-Lumpas--from Lumpa Land. It has the same pitfalls that befell the children in the original with only a few slight differences. Tagged with one-liners, such as; "Don't touch that squirrel's nuts,('nuts' in the literal sense)Burton's Wonka is as similar to the original as it is different. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, manages to accomplish a rare feat--it seperates itself from the original, and stands on its own feet. It is overall, a great film--but it doesn't have quite the same charm as the original.

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A visual treat yes, but little more. Definitely a film which will be enjoyed by children (5-8), but not really intended? for an adult audience. I kept felt I was watching The Grinch movie remake, as it is in someways simular - but not quite as developed.
The stereo-typical familiy's which win a visit to the chocolate factory is bang-on. Depp is reserved - but effective. Great teeth! - I guess that says it all.

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, adapted from the classic book by Roald Dahl, famed chocolatier Willy Wonka launches a worldwide contest allowing five lucky children to tour his mysterious factory. One of the winners is good-hearted Charlie Bucket, who lives in a run down shack with his parents and four grandparents. But the crookedness of the Bucket family home is a direct indication of director Tim Burton's crooked mind.

Long obsessed with wondrous yet macabre alternate realities, Burton's vision of the world (largely populated by unknown actors with homely faces) is colourless and drab until Charlie -- much like Dorothy entering the Land of Oz -- is introduced to the magical realm of Wonka.

As the confectionery genius, Johnny Depp does not try to emulate Gene Wilder, who played the role as glib and nonchalant in the 1971 film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Rather, Depp interprets the character as prissy and developmentally-retarded. Sporting an ashen face, false teeth, and a hideous wig, Depp's Wonka is not only creepy, but borders on paedophilia. If he based Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean on Keith Richards, he clearly based this soft-voiced Wonka on Michael Jackson.

Freddie Highmore, who played opposite Depp in Finding Neverland, stars as Charlie. Though delightful to watch, he has little to do besides deferring to the antics of the other four children, each of whom are proficient but do not leave the lasting impression of the original actors.

While the visuals are meant to be elaborate, they appear hastily thrown together by CGI. And the Oompa Loompas have sadly become cloned Polynesian pygmies who hip-hop their way through songs with garbled lyrics. Long a favourite of Burton, composer Danny Elfman's manic score also seems hurried and, as a result, cliched. Gone are the charming songs from the '71 treatment.

Also missing are the lessons and morals that tied the story together and gave it such heart-warming appeal. The fast-paced screenplay includes most of the memorable scenes from the first film version, but loses strength when diverting to an unnecessary subplot about Wonka's relationship with his estranged father (Christopher Lee).

The only thing you'll take away from this needless remake is a craving for chocolate. Rating: 2 out of 10.

I agree with the "Bad Movie" review from Toronto, Canada. I would add that Tim Burton, so at home animating the non-living, seems to have gotten lost dealing with a live cast in a film heavily dependent on making those real people interact with each other and what was, undoubtedly, a complicated series of mechanical sets and special effects. Aside from the bizarre awkwardness of Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka (some of which was no doubt intended to portray his character, but just didn't work well) many scenes are awkwardly staged and paced. The best examples are the scenes depicting the demise of the four "bad" children which drag on forever, while the rest of the cast, including the parent of each child, just stands around in a bewildered stupor. I would kind of expect some kind of reaction as one's child is drowned or set upon by squirrels and dumped into a garbage chute!

I'm aware that Tim Burton already showed competence with live actors in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but it just didn't work here.