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July 21, 2005
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
by Charlemagne
I will begin by saying that I enjoyed this movie far more than I thought I would because I simply hated the trailers. HATED them. I thought that they were some of the worst trailers that I had ever seen. But the movie itself, thankfully, did not match my expectations derived from the trailers. I will even go so far as to say that for the first 1/3 of the movie, I loved this film. It was what I had hoped.
But then, Willy Wonka appeared.
Let's just get this right out in the open. It isn't a question of who I liked better - Wilder or Depp. I disliked this version of Wonka on its own merit, believe me. The choice for characterization for Wonka in this new outing is - to my mind - a misfire. It's a disconnect.
First, the choice to reveal Wonka's backstory with regard to his father, was - to my mind - a horrendous mistake. Horrendous. Then, the manner in which they chose to depict Wonka's eccentricity and quirkiness just grated on my nerves throughout the entire film.
But, aside from that, I found everything else to be enjoyable. The kids were great given the scope of their roles, and the visuals inside the factory were suitably magical. I wouldn't mind riding that candy boat on a chocolate river myself.
But, dammit - if Wonka had only been less........ well, he had only been the kind of "less" that is "more" - this movie would have been near perfect. The fleeting seconds within scenes where Depp dropped the silliness and had that look of malevolent observation - those quick seconds when Depp reigned in all of his out-of-control horses that were the characterization of Willy Wonka - caused me to have goose-bumps. But, then, those magic moments would disappear and Depp would resort to the kind of character that almost ruined the entire movie for me.
But, overall, the movie is worth seeing on the big screen if only for the visuals.
Posted by astor at July 21, 2005 10:37 AM