we finally went to go see the film twiddle thumbs has been begging me to see even back when we were in new zealand, "charlie and the chocolate factory". 'directed by tim burton, starring johnny depp' doesn't interest me. i am much more interested in the old internet rumor of 'directed by tim burton, starring marilyn manson'. a dark version of the story. a complete opposite. that is what i would love to see. the "dope hat" video will have to suffice. the boys taste like boys!

i wasn't that interested in seeing the remake film. why mess with a classic? again! yes, i'm talking to you tim burton. you just had to go and fuck up another film, didn't you? when people make film remakes, they always seem to try to top the ending of the original. burton did that with the apes and now he did it with the factory. sorry, but the original endings rock--don't fuck with them by extending the film.

i admit that in both of these cases, i have not read the book on which they are based, which is very bad on my part, so i am only commenting on how the film comes across on its own merits rather than how true it is to the book. back to the comparison. where's the emotional connection between the characters and the audience? there's none. i never felt for any of the characters, even a little bit. it's devastating in the original "willy wonka" when gene wilder gets pissed off and denies charlie his prize. slam! bam! that scene gets me everytime. brilliant deliverance. too good a scene to duplicate which is fine but there was no scene in the remake that replicates that powerful emotional impact.

there's a lot more morals to the original "willy wonka" as well. there's a clear message coming across to parents on not to spoil children and to children on to behave themselves. that's lost in the remake. it seems like the only purpose is to make the audience laugh (which twiddle thumbs did the entire time) with rude jokes like not touching a squirrel's nuts. (that scene in the trailer is the other reason why i wanted to see the film.) but i didn't think the film was that funny. in fact, i felt like a lot of the one-liner type things that willy wonka said were out of place and just didn't fit.

i had heard that this version is not a musical so there would not be any songs. i was curious to see how the film would be without the songs because i thought it was one of the bold moves the filmmakers did to bring a fresh take to the story. however the oompa loompas do sing. which is great because if you were to cut out their songs altogether, you really wouldn't have the chocolate factory. only, what the oompla loompas are singing is practically impossible to understand. the music by danny elfman was great as usual but the levels of the vocals and instruments were all wrong. the vocals were not clear, which is unfortunate as it is during the songs that the majority of the moral message is conveyed. not that i'm a big fan of moral stories, it's just that's what works and is loveable about the original "willy wonka".

in the end, the film just wasn't dark or twisted as one expects from tim burton and there is so much potential for that in this story. also, the chocolate factory didn't really seem like a magical place that you would want to visit. perhaps the problem is that i am seeing it with adult eyes. maybe a kid watching the film thinks its great and the factory is cool. just not me. i do agree with a review i read that the film is great up until willy wonka makes his appearance. after that, it fizzles out. the boat ride was plain lame.