Mmmhmmm

[angelophile]

Went out tonight, had a nice meal out and went and saw Charlie and the Choloate Factory.

So near and yet so far. It was my favourite book of childhood and for half an hour there I was sat alternating between a MASSIVE grin on my face because everything was so RIGHT, to almost feeling tearful for the same reason.

Then Wonka finally appeared.

And it was a great performance, BUT...

WHO OH WHY did they have to insert the heavy handed "family is important" subplot?

That was massively apparent as one theme of the book throughout, there's so much inherent in the story that says that, s well as the important message that good children get good thinks happen to them and naughty children are punished.

But the "flashbacks" to Wonka's childhood and the final scenes just DIDN'T FIT.

And they coloured Depp's whole performance. Wonda's always ben a complete lunatic but not fucked up. By giving him "issues" it coloured the whole character and made him way more tragic than he should have been.

Without those moments and the final refusal which KILLED THE MOVIE DEAD, it would have been so goddam perfect.

It looked perfect, the children and parents were perfect, the acting was perfect, the design was perfect, the oompa loompas were sublime (although bad scoring on some of the songs meant the message of the song was obscured by the music), the squirrel were SOOOOOO cool...

The first twenty minutes or were absolutely flawless.

Just the last ten minutes pissed me off.

And screwed up the sequel. I was hoping to see Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

Still, SOOOOO much better than the Gene Wilder film.

Comments

[hayzil.livejournal.com]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was your favorite? I've always been a 'The Witches' and 'The Twits' fan; maybe it's because Eve read them to me while doing funny voices. Yes, -that- Eve. Reading me stories while using funny voices. Beautiful blackmail material.

[angelophile.livejournal.com]

It was always a toss up between Charlie and it's sequel The Great Glass Elevator...

Probably cos they were among the first books I owned and read myself.