Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

[TraderJake]

Saw this with a bunch of friends today, and all I can say is wow. What a hilarious, clever, and witty movie. The music is superb, the scenes are expansive and vivid, and Johnny Depp is one hell of a Willy Wonka. While the movie does stray a tad from the book (Wonka's childhood is extremely important in this movie), I found that the movie more or less stayed true to the book (the nut sorting scene was hilarious), and Deep Roy (the Oompa Loompa) often stole the show. I also enjoyed how Charile was not the source of conflict as he was in the original adaptation. Rather, it was Wonka, who found him fighting his own internal demons, and that was the source of conflict, which led to a hilarious movie.

Excellent, excellent, movie. I give this movie a ten. Tim Burton has himself yet another winner.

[Hydrobond]

What? No invite?  :-(

I guess I'll see it eventually.  But I bet Big Fish will remain the better movie.

[TraderJake]

Well, we went to a matinee, so I don't see how you could have made it given your work schedule.

However, I'd be up for seeing it again. It's that good of a movie. Both Mike and I were cracking up throughout the entire movie.

[Lord Nepenthean]

Yup, this movie is marvelous.  I've always thought Tim Burton was a genius, so it's hard for me to pick a favorite of his films, but this could take the top spot.  From the previews, I was a little bit worried about Depp as Willy Wonka, because he seemed like kind of an ass in the short clips.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  He's perfect as Willy Wonka - sharp, eccentric as hell, and hilarious.  Burton of course created yet another mesmerizing visual world for this one.  For that reason alone the movie is worth seeing, but it excels on so many other levels.

As to whether or not it is a good kids' movie....  In some ways it very much is, but in other ways it may not be.  There is a good dose of black humor in the movie, which most kids probably won't catch - but it could cause for some interesting questions.  And, like the first film adaptation, and surely the book, it's not like everybody sings and dances their way out of the factory.  It's not a bad message by any means, but not one common in most children's movies of today.

Still, I too give this one a 10/10.  Go see it right away.

[den68]

We plan to see it at an Imax with our daughter. So, as is often the case with Tim Burton films, did Danny Elfman do the score?

[TraderJake]

Danny Elfman did compose the score, and he did a really good job in composing it. As long as you don't go into the movie expecting the same Oompa Loompa songs from the first adaptation then you should find the score to be extremely enjoyable. Currently WOXY.com and the soundtrack are two the only things I am listening to right now (ok, and I guess the Taiko Music as I am in a repose from playing that. As for what the soundtrack sounds like, think cross between Sleepy Hollow and Big Fish, and the Oompa Loompa songs could just be described as a musical delirium.

I would also say that this is one of Burton's best movies, though I would think that Big Fish was probably a little better, though not by much.  There is a lot of humor to be had, so have at it!

[Lord Nepenthean]

I definitely think this one is better than Big Fish, but I am probably in the minority there.  I thought Big Fish was one of Burton's weakest movies to date.

(Edit:  .... but Big Fish is still a very good film.  There's no mistake about that.)

[Zimbacca]

I saw it a few days ago and thought it was awesome.  I thought it was better than the original, probably because of the CG special effects.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

I haven't seen this one yet but I must say, the original sucked. It was horrible compared to the book and I hated every last second of it. I hope Burton has made Roald Dahl happy