Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
195 of 237 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
On it's own merits..., July 18, 2005
I didn't want the movie to be bad. I love Tim Burton and think Johnny Depp is the riskiest actor we have an screen. I also loved the original movie for it's own merits, and at it's first viewing thought Gene Wilder was a genius. Can these two movies exist on their own merits...certainly I think they should. The origina; had it's flaws...the musical numbers had high points(Candy Man, my Imagination...and the oompa loompa songs) and low points(Cheer up Charlie)...the look is pretty dated. The new version has it's weirdnesses as well.
But is it a watchable movie on it's own merits??? Absolutely. If you want Wilder, rent it. No one is taking away your nostalgia by putting another slant on it. I feel the movie was very funny, certainly no more sick and twisted than the source it was created from. In fact, the tone of the movie, especially at the beginning, is very Dahlish.
There are diversions, Dahl himself wrote the first screenplay and managed to divert it as well, such as the Wonka father subplot...but I feel like the movie creates a world and joyously romps around in it.
As for Depp...he is fearless. Only he would delve into such an iconic role with such quirkiness. Michael Jackson...I don't see it. I feel like that is cheap. He is funny, a little demented, and there are hints at him being premeditated...but he does a fantastic job..
The other actors are well suited, Highmore is great and David Kelly is especially good in the first half.
It is a very well done film...and worth a view....But not if you're going to hate it right off the bat....why spend your money to hate something.
|
|
|
78 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very sweet treat, August 22, 2005
The new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory represents exactly what the audience should expect from a Tim Burton film: exuberant sets that challenge all possible camera angles and show a kitsch quality; weird supporting characters that prove to be a critic and piercing look at the American suburban world, Danny Elfman's exquisite music and as a cherry top, the presence of Johnny Depp, in his fifth collaboration with Burton.
The original 1971 film had a clear anchor in the pop visual look of the times; Burton's film evokes some 60's pictures in his art direction, photography and in the sweet innocence quality that all movies lack in the present. Without a doubt, the production design, art direction, costumes and sets are worthy of an Oscar; as well as Elfman's score, who added music to the verses written by Ronald Dahl, the author of the book.
Likewise, we should speak of Johnny Depp's performance for his extraordinary creation of Wonka. Compared to Gene Wilder's character in the 71' film, Depp's Wonka is more repressed, more peculiar and far more apt to this version, because it looks real and nostalgia-free.
The casting was terrific, from my point of view, and no one dissapointed in that department. A special mention to the man who played the Oompa Loompas...he was just superb and hilarious, in a freaky way, but terrific!!
In conclusion, I think Burton's version is superior, its ending more wholesome and its sensibility definitely more contemporary. This movie has updated all the elements that became somewhat obsolete in the 1971 film. All these aspects have enriched the story, and this makes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a very sweet treat.
|
|
|
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It hasn't GOT a point - that's why it's CANDY, July 20, 2005
You just need to get the old version of the movie out of your head before you see this, and approach it with an open mind. It's not really a musical, and it's not exclusively a kid's movie. But to my mind it's the best movie Tim Burton ever made, and considerably increased my assessment of Johnny Depp, whom you will find weird if you were hoping for Gene Wilder and wonderful if you were hoping for the actual Willy Wonka as written by the original author, Roald Dahl.
I had the strange experience of seeing Johnny Depp in "Finding Neverland" and two days later in "Chocolate Factory." Johnny's turn as Willy Wonka is the strangest, weirdest, and most engaging performance of any kind I've seen in years. It's what Jim Carrey in "Unfortunate Events" couldn't be: interesting, complex, and subtle. It makes the new "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" not only the best movie of the summer but one that will be worth owning and rewatching time and again.
More importantly, Depp's and director Tim Burton's vision of the Roald Dahl novel seems much closer to Dahl's own way of thinking: in Dahl novels, adults are incomprehensibly self-involved, ignoring their malevolent influence on the kids in their lives (which is ironic when you come to think of it; as in real life it often feels like the reverse). It's up to a few right-thinking kids to teach the grownups how to live. This inside-out dynamic registers on every close-up of Willy Wonka's twitchy face: staring at the wrong moments, scarcely in control of his limbs, you can see the effects of Wonka's own unsympathetic upbringing.
Director Tim Burton's incredible visual imagination seems to have melded with his own recent status as a dad here. The cinematography features acid-trippy colors; the chocolate-factory sets have an overwhelming amount to look at. There are subtle funny visual references to other Burton films: when we first see Wonka, he is carrying a HUGE pair of shears (shades of Edward Scissorhands); when a team of bike-riding messengers streams out of the factory to post announcements, they are riding bright-red wacky PeeWee Herman-style bikes.
Best of all are the Oompa Loompas (or, I should say, THE Oompa-Loompa), all played by a single actor (Deep Roy), who gamely dances through the Oompa-Loompa song in its various forms, including disco-style, Beatles-style, and a most delicious Queen parody.
If you don't quite "get" all this, and were hoping for a more straightforward Disneyfied version of the tale (or miss the "Candy Man" song, which was certainly not Dahl's), you may not like this. But my advice is don't press for explanations, just go and enjoy it - as Wonka himself says, "Candy doesn't have to have a point - that's why it's CANDY."
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Video On Demand ~ Freddie Highmore
Video On Demand ~ Mark A.Z. Dipp??
Video On Demand ~ Ewan Mcgregor
Video On Demand ~ Kathleen Barr
Video On Demand ~ Joe Alaskey
Video On Demand ~ Johnny Depp
Video On Demand ~ Jeff Goldblum
