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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore,
Anna Sophia Robb, Christopher Lee, Missi Pyle |
| MPAA Rated: |
PG |
| Released By: |
Warner Bros. |
| Web Site: |
...chocolatefactorymovie.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
It's pretty good
for everyone. |
| Date Movie: |
They might like
it, too. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Really, what do
you think? |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
No. |
| Action: |
Some fun action
scenes. |
| Laughs: |
There are good
chuckles for adults and kids. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
Technology has
made the factory even that more enjoyable. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Nothing really
stands out. |
| Directed By: |
Tim Burton |
| Produced By: |
Brad Grey, Richard Zanuck |
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
A Movie Review |
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I was worried that with "Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory" I would be totally disappointed in the movie
because of my love for "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory." My worry was unfounded, although I do have one
major gripe, which I’ll get to later. Let’s get to it…
The story is pretty much the same as "Willy Wonka," with
a little more of a backstory. This time we learn why Willy
Wonka got into the chocolate business, his family issues as
a little boy, and why the Oompa Loompa’s are working in the
factory instead of people. Once again Willy offers up a tour
of his factory to some lucky children who find the magic
tickets, and our kids are the same. You of course get poor
kid Charlie, the fat slob Augustus, the TV addicted genius
Mike, the gum-chewing Violet, and the spoiled brat Veruca.
Along with them come their parents, who are just as wacky as
their kids.
So, you get the kids touring the factory, and yes,
Augustus falls in the chocolate river, Violet turns into a
blueberry, and Mike gets put inside a TV. Different, though
I actually liked it better, was Veruca’s fate, mostly
because the animals were so cute. Different, also, was the
way they worked the ending, but I’m sticking that the "Willy
Wonka" ending was a little better and more poignant.
The main difference between the "Willy Wonka" version and
the "Charlie" version is mostly the technological advances
that give the "Charlie" version a slight advantage. The
factory is fantastic, the Bucket’s homestead is oddly
angular, and the elevator is pretty cool. I will also add
that the folks playing the other kids and their parents were
fantastic. However, this movie would have easily been 4 ½
stars except for one thing – the Oompa Loompa songs were
horrible. When I asked Stu about this movie, he said the
same thing, that the Oompa Loompa songs were unintelligible.
And that is way too bad.
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What they did, rather than the campy "Oompa Loompa
Doom-pa-de-do" songs, was rework them into extravagant
musical numbers with the instruments overpowering the
lyrics, so much so that you really couldn’t understand the
lesson the Oompa Loompa’s were trying to convey about the
actions of kids, how eating too much is bad, chewing too
much candy is gross, being spoiled is the parent’s fault,
and watching too much TV rots your brain.
The way they did the Oompa Loompa’s was interesting, and
overall I enjoyed the movie, the characters, and even though
Johnny Depp was pretty creepy, he even won me over. I just
don’t understand how you can make this movie and screw up
the Oompa Loompa songs, and that’s enough for me to drop my
rating to 3 ½ stars out of 5. I understand they couldn’t
just copy the way the songs were done in the "Willy Wonka"
version, but they should have been able to come up with
something better than they did.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |
