Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I have to admit, I was tentative going in to see this film (especially after seeing the trailer). Being a huge fan of Roald Dahl (especially as a youngster - owning all of his novels) and an avid watcher of the original film, I didn't really see it necessary to redo "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". After seeing the film, I still stand by that statement. I found the film unnecessary. I reread the novel recently, just too see HOW different the original 1971 film (which I also watched again recently) was from the text only to find that it wasn't nearly as "different" as everyone was saying it was. I also didn't find this film version that much "closer" to following Dahl's original text. If anything, the way the film ended and the whole Willy Wonka-backstory-subplot was a total reconstruction surpassing any of the changes the original film made from the novel. Dahl didn't care about families...read "Matilda" or "James and the Giant Peach" or even "The Witches". Dahl was about making children heroes and making dreams come true and teaching the "bullies" and "bad seeds" a lesson about behavior. Besides, the less we know about Willy Wonka the more we accept who he is - especially with an interpretion as outlandish as Johnny Depp's. This brings me to the performances. I adored Freddy Highmore as Charlie just as much in this movie as I did in Finding Neverland. He was the highlight of the film acting far superior to the ugly boy from the 1971 version. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed him so much I felt shorted when he didn't have nearly enough screen time after going into the factory. I must admit, the first 25 minutes of the film were quite good. I was almost moved to tears and applause when Charlie found the last golden ticket It wasn't until they entered the factory that the movie just crumbled. I didn't like Johnny Depp. Possibly because I didn't understand his motives - even with the superfluous back story. I was never a HUGE fan of Gene Wilder either but at least Gene Wilder gave Willy Wonka a heart yet still managed to be believable as a guy who had a magic elevator and lived with Oompa Loompahs. Speaking of, I hated the Oompah Loompah songs in this new version. They just didn't seem to fit the spirit of the rest of the film. I know that Dahl did not approve of the 1971 version, probably because they took the screenplay he wrote and edited it. I'm not so sure he'd approve of this one either. Especially with the Wonka backstory business. Regardless, it's not a horrible film. It's mildly dissapointing, but like I said, I went in with low expectations...they were met. Tim Burton films are always better in concept than they are in execution. I'm always excited to see his films but they always dissapoint to some degree. Someday maybe he'll be able to fine tune his craft and make a solid film. As for now, his movies are consistently sloppy (Ed Wood possibly being an exception). POSSIBLE SPOILER ->>> One last thing that bothered me, when Veruca Salt is being dragged away by the squirrels, why didn't the father just climb over the railing and go down the stairs? Why did he have to wait for Willy Wonka to find the key and open the gate. By the way, I'm thinking that they didn't do the whole squirrel thing in the 1971 version because it would have been to difficult so they just did the goose thing. Which I thought worked too.