Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition)
by Tim Burton
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Kelly, Freddie Highmore, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Noah TaylorDirector: Tim Burton
Brand: DEPP,JOHNNY
Producer: Brad Grey
Producer: Bruce Berman
Producer: Derek Frey
Producer: Graham Burke
Producer: Katterli Frauenfelder
Writer: John August
Writer: Roald Dahl
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-08
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Movie Reviews of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Let's Just Hope He Does A better Job With Alice
Summary: 2 Stars
First off, I love Tim Burton. Quentin Tarantino is cemented as my favorite director, but if I had to choose other favorites, Tim Burton is easily one of my other favorite directors. Granted, he's not a genius as much as some of his saviors would like you to believe (you know the kind), and I don't rate all of his movies five stars or even four stars (Pee-Wee's Playhouse and The Nightmare Before Christmas are prime examples). However, I think he's more than just some goth symbol. He makes great movies that really have great visual styles, and for the most part, he's an inspired director and someone I can always count on for making something good.
Except when he tries to redo other movies. Granted, he's only had only one other re-make, but Planet of The Apes stunk up something fierce, and this one isn't much better. I actually don't like the Willy Wonka movie that much either (I actually like the book more), but it's not a bad movie for good reasons, and there are parts in the movie that seem very heartwarming (god I hate that word). If felt engaging many times, and while it's also kind of dated, it still retains some form of engagment and emotion. This movie, on the other hand, left me feeling cold throughout, with nothing to grab onto, with no character development. Visual style can only take you so far, and while I liked some of it, it didn't do enough to save the film from becoming a total mess.
This isn't a terrible movie by any stretch, but there's just not anything to grab onto. Tim Burton is usually known for his quirkness and strangeness (boy, how dumb does that sound), but I always thought he did so in a way that was always engaging, really making the world, characters, or situations come to life in some way. In this one, the weirdness is there because he wants to be weird. It does nothing to bring the world to life, just makes the world seem like a place that reminds you of a retirement home. I actually have felt more emotions at a retirement home than this movie, I'm not even joking. Plus, unlike the book which still had the heart but some of the deranged fun, this one doesn't have much with the sterile characters, and the two main people: Charlie and Wonka, being incredibly annoying on both counts.
Ah, the annoying characters. An example of this one would be the main character himself, Willy Wonka (?). This Willy Wonka is just plain annoying and totally unengaging. He has no real motivation in his actions, makes the stupidest and lame jokes, and just seems like the kind of person that tries to be all weird but in any case comes off looking like a person starved for attention. The lame subplot about his father was also worthless, a backstory that made me feel absolutely nothing and did nothing to make me like this character at all. Besides, when you don't give two _________ about the character now, why did you think I would care now? He's annoying, he's weird because he can't offer anything else, and comparing the two characters makes you realize how much more soulless this Wonka is (The Nostalgia Critic did some cool comparisons, although I have no idea where the heck James Bond villian came from).
I also liked the way the Nostalgia Critic pointed out how the Charlie character in this one is underdeveloped and annoyingly perfect. This is a boyscout indeed, a kid that is so perfect and unrealistic that you just want to deck whoever put together this moron kid together. As he said, the Charlie in the Wonka version (his name is in the title of the BOOK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!) is kind, but is more like a kid. He can get greedy, he is tempted at times, but really comes out at the end after conflict (at the end). He's more like a real kid. He's crucial to the story, which makes it all the better since he's engaging while the focus of this movie does not involve a character that's in any way interseting. See above for that reason.
However, there are some improvements, although most are on the visual front. The whole chocolate River is much improved, the original version did very much look like liquid _________. The river in here was extremely gloppy and looked very much like chocolate. I also thought the gobstopper was improved, I mean, what were the original gobstoppers supposed to me modeled after. The factory is kind of interesting to see at times, but not entirely all the time. It's kind of a person thing, but I think it overall looks pretty cool for the most part, and Tim Burton knows his stuff (too bad it didn't save the movie).
There are some plot points cleared up, and the character updates shows they weren't entirely lazy (Gloop is pretty much the same). The updates of Mike, and ESPECIALLY Violet, are very welcome. I also like seeing the kids come out after their survival through the factory. However, Veruca Salt was not improved at all, as the one in the earlier version was so __________ spoiled and bratty that you wanted to beat for being such a bratty son of a __________. And the opening parts weren't that bad either, although nothing special considering the characters weren't that interesting, so setting up uninteresting characters doesn't really make the movie better. It would only count if the characters were actually interesting. And when they do, there's not much screen time anyway.
Oh, and one other thing. The MUSICALS NUMBERS $U(% @$$!!!!!!! The whole different songs played during each kid's demise are totally annoying. Why Elfman why? Oh. _______ the Willy Wonka song. Eh, at least it's better than A Whole New World.
Sorry Burton, I love ya, but I'm not a patsy. It's worth a shot if your a Burton fan, but if you are going into the movie expecting to see something akin to the original, you're in for a rude awakening. I'm actually glad I saw this movie for some Tim Burton greatness scattered about, but there wasn't that much. It's kind of too bad. Oh well. I'm glad Ed Wood was released on DVD in special edition.
D+
Summary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition)
Fantasy Adventure. Acclaimed director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (Depp) and Charlie, a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka's extraordinary factory. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka launches a worldwide contest to select an heir to his candy empire. Five lucky children, including Charlie, draw golden tickets from Wonka chocolate bars and win a guided tour of the legendary candy-making facility that no outsider has seen in 15 years. Dazzled by one amazing sight after another, Charlie is drawn into Wonka's fantastic world in this astonishing andenduring story.Mixed reviews and creepy comparisons to Michael Jackson notwithstanding, Tim Burton's splendidly imaginative adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would almost surely meet with Roald Dahl's approval. The celebrated author of darkly offbeat children's books vehemently disapproved of 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (hence the change in title), so it's only fitting that Burton and his frequent star/collaborator, Johnny Depp, should have another go, infusing the enigmatic candyman's tale with their own unique brand of imaginative oddity. Depp's pale, androgynous Wonka led some to suspect a partial riff on that most controversial of eternal children, Michael Jackson, but Burton's film is too expansively magnificent to be so narrowly defined. While preserving Dahl's morality tale on the hazards of indulgent excess, Burton's riotous explosion of color provides a wondrous setting for the lessons learned by Charlie Bucket (played by Freddie Highmore, Depp's delightful costar in Finding Neverland), as he and other, less admirable children enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Wonka's confectionary wonderland. Elaborate visual effects make this an eye-candy overdose (including digitally multiplied Oompa-Loompas, all played by diminutive actor Deep Roy), and the film's underlying weirdness is exaggerated by Depp's admirably risky but ultimately off-putting performance. Of course, none of this stops Burton's Charlie from being the must-own family DVD of 2005's holiday season, perhaps even for those who staunchly defend Gene Wilder's portrayal of Wonka from 34 years earlier. --Jeff Shannon
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