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July 18, 2005
The Bitter Taste of 'Chocolate'.

If there's one thing I hate, it's a filmmaker ripping apart a story I am very familiar to and enjoy.
Tim Burton hasn't exactly destroyed my love for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but his movie, being the lastest remake/imagination does come very close to harming my feelings towards the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Imagine if we all weren't so familiar with the previous movie material -
would we still care about this movie ? Probably not.
And if Burton wasn't such a popular director, even less would care.

The very fact that we've all been to the chocolate factory before (in theory) absolutely puts a smudge on the movie. What else can we see ? There's the chocolate river. The boat. The bratty kids. The Bucket clan. But Burton plays a trick on us - he obviously blends in some Un-Dahl storyline into the background of Wonka, which is amusing, and explains Depp's quirky character, but in the end hampers the other character storylines greatly.

Even though the first film had some artifical flavoring in the story, those placed moments are greatly missed.
There's no moment of Mrs. Bucket singing "Cheer Up Charlie."
No moments of the boy being humiliated in front of his classmates because he can afford a single chocolate bar. Skip the story development before the alertness melts - This movie is Charlie and the Short Attention Span.
Of course, the ticket holders get their quick 5 minutes to shine, and boom. Outside the factory, we're all there, and checking our watches til Gloop gets sucked in the pipe, Beaureguard becomes a blueberry, etc. Sure all of this works, and it's sometimes tolerable, but Freddy Highmore's sweet lil' smile is wasted, and all of the stereotypical kids are extremely tired in their exhausting rants.
Even with all the amazing CGI technology these days, some of the effects look cheap and unfinished
(particularly when the other bratty children exit Wonka's factory).

Even with all my personal issues with the movie, two things actually work.
The art direction, in place where CGI wouldn't suit - and Johnny Depp.
I'm not such a big fan of the roles he has chosen lately, but his Wonka is original,
and gleefully opposed the thoughts of --p-p--p (parents), and anything that comes out of those other non-Charlie ticket holders mouths. His Prince Valiant hairdoo goes with the Willy's mindset of being yourself and not listening to others - it is his factory, and if you have a problem, you're going to face his own style of child endangerment (oh my). Wilder's Wonka seemed to an accidental hand in the original children's demise, but there are hints that Depp's Willy set them all up. I wish this was explained more, but then again, this movie is betting that you don't care.

I will give Burton credit for going more towards the book - otherwise it'd be a full remake of the 1971 feature. But the real question is -- Why ? Why think that we all need see this story played out again ?
Gene Wilder has been quoted in the press saying the only reason for this movie was for the filmmakers to make money.
I kind of felt like Charlie himself when he opens his first chocolate bar - no golden ticket, and disappointed.

Posted by madamczyk at July 18, 2005 09:42 PM


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