Well I saw Charlie... tonight. For all of you who doubted, you were right to doubt. It's not bad enough to make my Matrix 2 & 3 ratings but I am now convinced that Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino need to go into counseling together. They both have serious issues that they need to work out but they need to work them out in a Doctor's office, not on our dime.

Kudos to Johnny Depp and Danny Elfmann. The music was great and Depp di really well, its just that the director (Burton) fucked things up. Put simply, Tim Burton should never be allowed to direct a movie where a wizard is a central character. He doesn't understand them.



The very beginning of the movie could easily be mistaken for Edward Scissorhands and, indeed, when Depp cuts the ribbon on the factory, Scissorhands is invoked.

The movie, while pretty to watch lacks any real suspense and it completely guts the moral and the morality from the story. There is no climax, no resolution. It lacks the subtext of the original or even the book. In its place, Burton has constructed som BS subplot about Wonka's father and abandonment issues. While the reference to SAruman in the tower is amusing, it completely undermines the Wonka character. Instead of Wonka hiding a cunning genius behind a facade of eccentricity/madness, Burton turns Wonka into a damaged, paranoid recluse. Depp never gets a chance to drop the facade because Burton doesn't let him, there is no facade.

I am mystified by these changes and deeply disappointed.

Current Mood: bewildered