My Review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory · 11:59pm Feb 10th, 2022
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. This is yours truly back with another movie review for tonight. This evening, I will be reviewing Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . I remember watching this movie for the first time back in 2008 or 2009 with my dad; around that time, I didn’t think too highly of it although it did re-enforce my love for chocolate because I love chocolate. Regardless, I barely had any remembrance of the movie as it’s been so long since I’ve seen it. Therefore, I gave this film a re-watch last week Sunday to see if it’s as decent as I remember. To be honest...this was a big let-down for me.
This story is nearly the same thing we have seen in the original movie: Charlie is striving to get one of the golden tickets to get a tour in the chocolate factory, four other children get the four other tickets, the rest of them fail a test, Charlie gets the factory, and happy ending for everyone. You get the point. Except this time, Tim Burton tried to be more faithful to the source material than did the late Mel Stuart. While I appreciate what he and his team tried to do, everything just fell flat on the ground with no heart or substance whatsoever.
The only positives I have for this movie are these: the soundtrack and the CGI. Danny Elfman had a blast with the soundtrack he composed! I mean, seriously, the soundtrack is amazing! Take a look at the intro for instance:
The opening credits is the only watchable scene in the entire movie, and that alone says something. The soundtrack is speechlessly breathtaking, invigorating, and goosebump-inducing! It gives you a sense that the movie is going to be awesome and filled with epic surprises. The CGI is quite flawless too if I may add. I mean, it’s both eye-catching and visually appealing that makes you want to taste that chocolate right there and then. Unfortunately, the only surprise I got from the rest of the movie was how dull and lifeless everything else really was.
The majority of the actors felt like they were trying to put forth their effort to be convincing, but they appeared as if they didn’t want to be there. One primary example would be Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. He was just too awkward to be the central character of the story. It’s like he didn’t have that magical essence that made him stand out from the rest of the cast. What’s even more unnecessary was how they made his character to have daddy issues and be anti-family until the end of the movie. I personally didn’t want to know about his background because it’s not about him; it’s about Charlie. The original movie got that part right (except they put Willy’s name on the title), so Tim Burton didn’t need to add 20 more minutes on the runtime to give Willy Wonka a sob story.
With that said, the late Gene Wilder did a better performance as Willy Wonka than did Johnny Depp.
The other characters were so boring thanks to their subpar acting. The four other children of the adventure were even more unbearable and disgusting than their original counterparts. The songs sung by the Oompa Loompas were all annoying, out-of-place, and cringeworthy in my opinion.
In conclusion, while I praise this movie for trying to be more faithful to the source material, the soundtrack, and the CGI, this is none other than a bland, insipid, uninspiring, generic, and soulless adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book. It is not a terrible movie by any means, but it is not exactly a great movie either. Neither this movie nor the original movie are re-watchable; however, if I had to choose which one is better in terms of the acting and the substance of the story, it would be Mel Stuart’s version without a doubt. Therefore, I rate this mediocrity a solid 5/10.
Peace out, folks. 🍫 🍩
I really enjoy this movie
This is the only one I watched. I rarely made it to the ending, but it's not for any negative reasons... I think I just tagged out for whatever reason.
It's been a while.
5635279
Me too. Different opinions.
Personally, I was not a big fan of Danny Elfman’s music for this movie. In contrast to other films I’ve watched in which he composed for, his score for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was surprisingly irritating and cringe-worthy.
I hated the film’s score so much that, even today, I classify it as one of the worst parts of the movie rather than the best. I’m surprised Elfman wasn’t given a Razzie Award for Worst Soundtrack in a Motion Picture for his work on this film, really.