Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

I went to go see this with my sister yesterday. Wasn't inspired to write anything about it until just now.



Not that spoilers would matter much. Since we've all seen the Gene Wilder version anyway. So you say.

Oh, how you're wrong. Because there's a logical and not remotely dark part of Willy's past we were never privvy to. Which fucks up the movie entirely.

I wish they hadn't justified Willy Wonka with his dentist father and his past. It just really detracted from the movie. Especially when it gets all family movie teary-eyed "Daddy? I missed you!" I was all ready for it to end a bit earlier - WW contemplates that Charlie wants to bring his family, realizes he needs Charlie nonetheless, allows them to come, and hugs and kisses all around. We don't need to see evildentist!father, or disappointing!Halloween, or for god's sake, headgear!Willy.

(I've complained too much already, but...) The squirrels were stupid. I'd like my geese back, please. To stoop as low as "Don't touch that squirrel's nuts!" in this movie was way disappointing.

Earlier in the movie, Mike is complaining about how there's no point to the factory, and Charlie looks at him and says "It's candy. It doesn't have to have a point." If only Tim Burton thought that about the story.

Otherwise, though, I liked it more than I think everyone else did. Because they're expecting Gene Wilder's version but then, what good would a remake be if it were exactly like it? I did like seeing Loompaland, and their new updated songs were sacreligious but snazzy. :-D And I loved how Johnny played WW, it was brilliant. He must've drawn on Michael Jackson for it, though, which makes the movie that much more twisted. (Charlie inherits the factory, but until WW dies he's going to sodomize him but good!) Brilliantly played.


And the scenes were all so vivid and whimsical. The room with the chocolate waterfall was stunning and probably cost billions to create. And the music was, in some scenes, really the driving force of the tone much more than the characters could be. What else would you expect from Danny Elfman though? (And I've got the WW song from the beginning stuck in my head indelibly. Forever. Grr.)

I enjoyed it a lot, and it's very much so if you don't walk in and start comparing it to Gene. Because it's not and it underestimates both films to compare them.