charlie and the chocolate factory
05 Aug 2005We saw it tonight. It was good, entertaining, but not great. I thought the original was better. Spoilers below:
The exposition into Wonka’s past was unnecessary, and ruined what was otherwise an enigmatic mad-hatter type mystery figure. This fatal mistake really ruins the ending. What is all this family crap? In the original, the ending crystalized nicely in a brief moment of “whoa, what a dick” panic when Wonka flips out on Charlie. Then it quickly flops back as you realize it was all just a test by the lovable (yet still ambiguously insane) Willy Wonka. Instead, in the remake, we get Wonka as an actual human being, with a past, and feelings, and actual character development. If there’s one thing people hate when they see movies, it’s actual human beings. The whole prolonged change of heart ending really blew it for me. I also mostly agree with NK’s review.
Sorry, Johnny, but Wilder retains the Best Wonka award:
This gives me an idea though. There should be a Wonka franchise like the Bond franchise. Okay maybe not.
I thought it was pretty good. Very imaginative sets, and I liked the way the Oompa Loompas were all played by one actor. The kids were pretty interesting, too.
It definitely relied too much on spectacle, and was too self-aware. Living in the Irony Age, it’s hard to get straight-up entertainment that isn’t making fun of itself.