the... re-imagining... discuss.

Lively bunch...

..ok I'll bite.

Saw it, liked it. NOT CRAP.

Depp and Wilder's performances are separate yet equal in their child-hating creepy weirdness.

Great visuals, effects, etc etc. Loved the Burtonized landscapes. Especially how the evil, dark factory loomed over the town yet at the same time held all the hopes and dreams of the residents.

The shiny candylike complexions of the kids freaked me out, especially Augustus.

They nailed the look of the Atlanta suburbs/suburban moms.

A good show.

First version also N/C.

I really liked the new version. Not crap.

Not really a fan of the Wilder version.

Johnny Depp claims that he did not base his Wonka character/performance on Michael Jackson's public persona. If Johnny Depp is telling the truth (and keep in mind this is the man who specifically modeled his Jack Sparrow character in "Pirates of the Caribbean" after Keith Richards), then the resemblance in appearance and behavior is quite a coincidence.



Hey, the movie's okay. It's entertaining enough to merit a NOT CRAP, but it's not nearly the freak out that I had expected or for which I had hoped. Depp's Wonka is a bit silly, simple and surprisingly shallow (despite the distracting father-as-dentist background story), and his Wonkaspeak is forced and obvious. The various adult actors (Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee) were great, but I didn't care one bit about the child actors.

But I missed the ultra-wonderful Jack Albertson. And I have no idea why this movie was released in the summer instead of at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

But I liked a lot of the effects, such as the crooked and decrepit Bucket house and the chocolate Indian palace. I also liked a few of the Danny Elfman songs ("Wonka's Welcome Song", "Augustus Gloop", "Veruca Salt"), which really surprised me. The "2001: A Space Odyssey" reference in the Mike Teavee scene is nice, too. But for me, Deep Roy stole the show in his role as all of the super creepy computer-replicated Oompa Loompas.

I also liked the squirrels.

I'm surprised Tim Burton hasn't received complaints from any German interest groups with respect to the portrayal of Augustus Gloop.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:Hey, the movie's okay. It's entertaining enough to merit a NOT CRAP, but it's not nearly the freak out that I had expected or for which I had hoped.

What Mr. Weissenberger has written here is exactly how I felt about it (though I loved the original as a kid. It was close to my favourite movie). Unlike Mr. Weissenberger however, I found the musical numbers tiresome and the cloned Oompa Loompa seemed weak to me for some reason. Not the actor or his specific performance(s) mind you, but the concept and its execution.



Look at the original batch of Oompa Loompas, so magical and British looking.

And I have no idea why this movie was released in the summer instead of at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Absolutely! What the shit?


Not Crap 7

I finally saw this movie in rotation on HBO. I had avoided seeing it in the theaters because I knew how I was going to react to it.

It. is. TERRIBLE!

The original movie was so imaginative. The sets were full of color and props of varying usefulness. It was a fantasy world that you were happy to be a part of. It was a warm place, and full of life.

This movie has no fantasy, no imagination, no character. Its stark, sterile, bland, and huge. It is a monochrome dungeon for the depraved and color-blind.

The original movie had situations that would go awry, and the subtleties of the fantasy world would creep in. It was enough to make the factory seem magical, but at the same time palpable.

In the new version the rooms had no dimensions relative to one another. There was no way the factory could have existed in the real world. Inadequacies in set design and imagination were made up for with misplaced and mispurposed CG. (wtf was with the fireworks in the glass elevator scene? What was the point?)

The original movie had original music that is instantly classic and memorable. It helped build the characters and set the mood at the moment. And the "Oopma-loompa-doopity-doo". Who doesn't know that?

The new movie used the original oopma-loompa songs. That may be nice for fans of the book, but those "songs" aren't even really songs. They're sets of lingering prose that are almost impossible to memorize and hardly leave an impression on anyone. Not to mention that I wanted to blow apart my stereo system after about 10 seconds of that Willy Wonka theme.

And the acting....holy jeez the acting....

Rarely will I criticize actors, because their work is hard, and it's a talent that I sure don't have. But those kids!?! They're characters were hardly developed. In the original movie, the idiosyncrasies of the children and their less-than-attentive parents were developed from the moment they entered the movie. They had lines throughout the movie ("Spitting's a dirty habit." "I know a worse one."), and their characters were also developed in music ("Don't care how, I want it now!").

The new movie had parents that seemed awkwardly out of place. The kids would be silent for 10-15 minutes, then suddenly go batshit and meet their storybook doom. The lines were abrupt and poorly set up.

Now on to Johnny Depp....

Willy Wonka was the most disappointing part of this new movie. The added backstory about his dad was ridiculous, and added no dimension to the film whatsoever. Every time Depp spoke, it felt forced and abrupt. He may have created a memorable character in Jack Sparrow, but Jack Sparrow this was not. There was not a single thing memorable about his portrayal of Willy Wonka except that pedophile-tone voice he used. And that's not the kind of memory you want of the guy who wants to give his factory to the most innocent child he can trust.


I wish this movie had never been made. Luckily I won't have to see it again, and my only hope is that it will fade away from pop culture's consciousness.

And I have no idea why this movie was released in the summer instead of at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I agree with this as well! This is a holiday movie! But why do we feel that way? There's nothing holiday about it. But I always watch it around Christmas!

I think I mentioned this before. but I really believe the music killed this movie. it's so unfitting--mainly regarding the oompa loompa music.
crap music.
not crap otherwise.

Gene Wilder is the one true Wonka. Furthermore Wilder is the real thing. He is a triple threat. He can act, dance and sing. Not to mention his comic timing is superb.

I really don't think he gets enough credit. And I'm saddened that they tried to "re-make" this movie. Can't they leave genius alone? IS there no one in Hollywood that can write a new story? They have to keep re-making/ruining old ones?

WTF?