the_unc

So I agree largely with the hundreds of people who say that the film looks impressive with its stunning sets etc. Depp's performance was good, but as others have said, a little too Jackson-esquire to feel quite right.

HOWEVER, whatever you think of Burton's directing, why oh why must these Hollywood interpretations always remove the very soul and purpose of a book? In the book (and the 1971 film) the other four children disappear as per in Burton's film, and then Wonka sends an oompa loompa to take away their parents. Then, they are never mentioned again. Also, there is no happy ending. The glass elevator flies out of the top of the factory, and it ends. There's no paternal reunion (because that sub-plot didn't exist) and there is certainly no happy family in the factory scene.

To summarise, a little mystery and unknown is just unacceptable in a film these days. The idea that a kid could leave the cinema and think, "well I wonder what happened to all the other kids?" or "what happens to Charlie?" seems to be beyond Burton, which is frankly a shame as it ruins an otherwise superb film.

still, it's worth a watch.

Once again I find myself sitting in on a Sunday night and what happens, my mum puts on BBC 1 at 9 and i think: "not another period drama...". But actually, this one wasn't so bad...

Not because it had a decent plot or any particularly good character development but because Laura Fraser was in it. I couldn't place her at first but i soon realised it was none other than Kate the blacksmith from A Knights Tale. Not only is she considerably more beautiful than anyone else in the film (especially the french sisters...), but she can act a hell of a lot better than most of them as well. I appreciate that most actors find it difficult to act in the pretentious voices, but why do it then? Is there really a shortage of people who can speak pretentiously? Who knows, point being, Laura stood out around the rest of them.

That piece of sycophancy aside, I think the problem with this period drama, like so many others, is its willingness to include so much plot at the expense of character development. Perhaps if there was only one girl trying to marry each man instead of half a dozen, we might understand better why she wanted to marry him. Or maybe I'm missing the point. It just seems to me that the girls always one day decide they love someone they've never spent any significant amount of time with, and thats it.

Anyway, as I say, its better than most, so if you like this sort of thing, You'll love this one.