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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is technically speaking a remake of a movie that starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. However, since this new version is much truer in spirit and tone to the book, I would label this an adaptation of a classic piece of literature, not a remake. The only reason I can see that got the original the label of a "classic" is because of the literary merits of the book it was based on, not because of any quality of the production itself, which I found to be *yawn* boooooring when compared to Roald Dahl's work of art.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starts out as it should, with introducing us to the most important character in the story.... Charlie Bucket, not Willy Wonka, who while being the most interesting character in the whole story is not the main character.* The first part of the story is told from Charlie's point of view as we get to see him and his very poor (literally) family eek out an existence on cabbage soup. Charlie, like most kids his age loves candy, and is therefore enthralled when his grandparents tell him stories about Willa Wonka, a candy making genius who once built an entire palace using only chocolate. Of course there are mysteries surrounding willy wonkas factory, such as no one knows who works there, since "the only thing that comes out of that factory is the candy." Eventually Willy Wonka announces that he's hidden five golden tickets under the wrappers of five chocolate bars and the winners of these tickets will be allowed a tour of his "amazing factory," but it looks as if though some things will always be a mystery for Charlie, who only gets one bar a year.
The special effects and set decorations are much better here in the than in the original, although I guess that was to be expected, since movie making techniques have advanced so much over the last three decades. However, another major improvement is the acting, some of which is definitely inspired by the book, unlike the first movie. For one thing, Johnny Depp gives a loverly performance as Willy Wonka, although if I had kids, I wouldn't leave them alone with him, since a lot of the mannerisms Depp uses strongly reminded me (and others) of Michael Jackson. The kids are all much more believable in their roles than the ones in the original. I particularly liked the kid Mike Teavee was played by since he does such a good job of conveying apathy towards everything that doesn't involve television and disturbing enthusiasm for violent video games (DIE! DIE! DIE!). Also, Deep Roy gives a wonderfully hilarous performance as the oompa loompas, who thankfully never once sing about "dippity doo."
In the long run, it all comes down to which you like better, Roald Dahl's book, or the Gene Wilder movie. Fans of the book will probably love what Tim Burton has brought to the screen in this version, even though the ending is much different in this movie than in the book and those who liked the Gene Wilder version will probably be horrified by most of the changes made to their beloved "classic", not least of which is the way Johnny Depp plays their favorite character.
Jeremy
*Sorry, minor annoyance of mine since they changed the title of the first movie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Another nitpick (sorry can you tell I don't like the Gene Wilder version?) shouldn't it therefore have been called Willy Wonka and His Chocolate factory. If your going to butcher a classic book on the big screen, you should go the whole way, not do it in halves.
The blog...
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AUTHOR OF THIS MESSAGE
The Red i
MESSAGE TIMESTAMP
24 august 2005, 20:52:56
AUTHOR'S IP LOGGED
66.24.253.23
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