Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This film is a new version of the original from the 70s. I loved the original film and was excited about the new film coming out. In this review I will tell you what I think of this film.

Although it sticks more to the original story line than the 70s film this edition is rather dull. Not to mention Willy Wonka who I find to be far to weird and lifeless compared to the eccentric character he should be.

The fact that the chocolate room is now made using CGI instead of a real set also loses this film it's heart.

Overall, this film is watchable but I think it is terrible compared to the 1970s version of this classic children's story.

(Also published on Dooyoo)

I have to agree with the previous review....I've read the book and seen the Gene Wilder version a million times and i grew up watching it. to me, Tim Burton did the story injustice. Willy Wonka is a chocolatier, plain and simple. The story was ruined when, at the end, this movie strayed from the book (including a dentist father, etc). with the fantastic imagery that tim burton brought to the movie, it could have been a fantastic remake. unfortunately, it all went sour for me when he decided to take the plot in a different direction. I will go so far as to say that this story is a modern classic - it didnt need an added twist or plotline!

The ending was a bit cringe-worthy. The original Roald Dahl version should never have been tampered with.

I am from the old school that have seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder at least a billion times.

This movie, as much as it pains me to say, really sucked! I love Johnny Depp! Really love him, but he turned Willy Wonka from a tricky, funny, yet lesson teaching wise one, into a childish, devilish, meanie. I love Tim Burton! I mean I really love him! But this was terrible. I understand going in different directions with characters, but this was almost sacrilege!!!

Depp played the role of Willy Wonka, and was worse than the misbehaving kids. I didn't see it as cute. It was more shameful. And what in the world was up with the Oompah Loompahs? I know that they used just one guy and duplicated him on film. That is all well and good, but what was he saying? I couldn't understand him for squat! This movie was very frustrating for me. The Oompah Loopah is supposed to give a moral as to why the child ended up in such a bad place, and you couldn't even understand him. But instead of relying on his words to make him endearing, they relied on his silly dancing and loud music to make him cute. Again, this was frustrating. All of the left field takes on the original characters shocked me, to the point of not being able to possibly enjoy whatever was descent in the movie. I began shaking my head as the credits rolled, and realized 30 minutes later at home, I was still shaking my head. Disappointing...

Roald Dahl, Tim Burton, Johnny Depp. 3 of the best in their respective business. A classic combination to create a classic movie..... Not quite.

Most people capable of reading a book must be aware of this intriguing, spellbinding and funny story. The movie has kept to all the original elements and added to the story in places which was very cleverly done and a big success. I think the problem here is that whatever movie you produce the book will always be far better.

Johnny Depp's portrayal of Wonka is excellent. Complex, dark and certainly a little sinister, I just couldn't stop thinking of a certain Mr Jackson in Never Never Land.

The Oompa Loompa's were a big disappointment from the original film as they are all played by the same character and then multiplied by technology. It might be clever but it lacked the charm and the fun of the first movie.

The ending also was a slight let down. It felt a little rushed as if the movie had run out of steam.

A good movie but not fantastic for the kids, they should read all Dahl's books instead and let their imagination run riot.

I've been looking forward to this for some time. The book is a Roald Dahl classic and the original film with Gene Wilder is superb. This remake is from director Tim Burton (The genius behind Batman 1 and 2, Edward Scissor Hands and Ed Wood to name but a few)and also stars Johnny Deep, in my opinion, the best actor currently in the business. Add to the recipe, music by Danny Elfman and you would be hoping for another Burton classic. Sadly, you should hope again....

It's not that it's all bad you understand. Tim Burton lends his usual flair for dark style and design and Depp turns in another fine performance but that's all there is to recommend this. On the minus side, the jokes are mostly weak and the most obvious problem is that there is no magic, here. The book was magical, the original film was magical but in this adaptation, the magic is clearly lost. The reason for this, is that Wonka in this version is just plain uninteresting. He lacks the charisma and charm of Gene Wilder's Wonka. He acts eccentric and has some occasional witty retorts to the spoilt children on his tour but there's no showmanship and there's no flair. It's clear that Burton has gone for a more 'lost child' approach to this Wonka. This is substantiated by flash backs to Wonka's childhood in which his passion for chocolate is explained and perhaps the only moments that lift the film, where you see his dad, played by the excellent Christopher Lee. Finally, the Oompa Loompas. In this version, they are all played by the same actor, digitally cloned. All very clever to admire but it removes what little soul there is (a feeling I last remembered in The Phantom Menace,) and their songs are fairly dull, too.

To sum up; you may enjoy it for it's sumptuous sets and visuals but there really is little else to recommend this. Best left for the kids.

Charlie & the Chocolate factory is a Tim Burton film. It has Johhny Depp in it, the music is by Danny Elfman and is quite fun, weird and dark in places. In short, a Tim Burton film. I've not read the book, so I can't say whether it's a closer adaptation than the book, but in places it is very close to the earlier film with Gene Wilder. In other places, its not. There are quite a lot of flashbacks to Willie Wonka's childhood and his relationship with his dentist father (played by Christopher Lee) that try to explain how he got into the chocolate business and why he has shut himself off from the world and the ending is different than the earlier film.

The sets are great, although the very start of the movie, behind the titles the computer animation looks like computer animation, which is quite odd. Also some of the childrens faces, and Wonka's at times have had something done to them that make them look like the old 'painted' black and white photographs. Again this is odd, but does add to the unreal, unworldly effect of the whole thing.

The oompa loopas are fab (all 165 identical ones of them) as are the squirrels in the nut sorting room. Johnny Depp is great as Wonka, suitably weird, mad and sad at the same time and the kids play their parts pretty well.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Worth seeing, either at the cinema or on DVD.

This is the funniest and most entertaining film I have seen for a very long time. Anyone who enjoyed the book or the first version of the film and is worried about being disappointed, you won't be! I can't say how much I enjoyed it. If you enjoy silliness and light humour, go and see this movie. If you don't, it'd be a shame to miss it anyway!