Ah Willy Wonka... I grew up with you as part of childhood. You showed the importance of imagination and that sometimes the often kicked down can get a lift up.
But now comes along a remake with... Johnny Depp? What the hell? Could this remake really be anywhere near as good as the original. This new version would have, we were told, no music numbers, no Gene Wilder, no Slugworth. This one is suppose be more like the book... but the book sucked (okay that's a lie, it didn't suck, but the movie was better).
The best way for any movie to pleasantly surprise you is to go in expecting the worse. And perhaps that's what happened. I thought the story telling was great. The visuals were beautiful. I preferred each kid to the one that played them in the original. And Johnny Depp wasn't as bad as I though he'd be (although he's still no Gene Wilder).
The movie had it's downfalls. I think we could of done without the Christopher Lee daddy scenes, although I understand why they were there. The original book had no plot, so the 1971 version added Slugworth, this one added Willy Wonka's childhood issues. Also while Danny Elfman's score is up to it's usual high quality, the Oompa Loompa numbers (the only songs in the movie for the most part) were overdone and forgettable. The Oompa Loompa's singing is annoying and too hard too understand, the lyrics were probably clever but I couldn't make most of them out. As they are the songs were pretty much pointless and disposable.
But, most importantly this movie continues to let your imagination take over, forget about what's possible and let yourself dream. That's one of the things I enjoyed about both the new and old film versions, and the book too for that matter.
I feel bad saying it, it's almost as if I'm betraying my childhood, but I think I like this version better. But my mind will probably change. The original Willy Wonka still stands well over 30 years after being made, I can't see this Johnny Depp standing that test of time. << Home
