i personally enjoyed the second one for entertainment purposes. it was worth my $8.50 to see the new spins on the plot, new oompa loompas, and new versions of the well-loved characters. however, if forced to pick a favorite, the obvious winner is by far the original film. it is timeless, appeals to all ages, and is quirkey enough to warrant repeated viewings. while the remake may be more visually appealing than the first film, its script is shallower, its characters are too extereme but at the same time too undeveloped to be lovable, and the overall feeling is less magical and intriguing. i'd say that if you haven't seen the first one, the remake might only be interesting if you are under age 13 or are at least a little high while watching the trippy Oompa Loompahs.
one major problem i had with the film was the characterization of Willy Wonka. johnny depp does not play the benevolent but odd chocolate maker of the book. the back story with the dentist father is, as far as i know, made up for this version, and adds a level to his motivations, but completely changes wonka's nature. he is now an embittered chocolate fanatic who makes it to fulfill his own childhood desires rather than to please children across the world.
the opening scene of the original film that takes place in the candy store demonstrates the affable nature of mr. wonka, and is desire to make the world happy through his candy. a few lines of the candyman song will help illustrate my point:
Who can take tomorrow Dip it in a dream Separate the sorrow And collect up
all the cream?The candyman. the candyman can. The candyman can 'cause he mixes it
with love and makes the world taste good.And the world tastes good cause the candyman thinks it should.
Now, I don't believe these light-hearted, warm, fuzzies would hold true for Tim Burton's version of Willy Wonka. This Mr. Wonka is not interested in who eats his candy, but only in making it for his own enjoyment. For me, the Gene Wilder Wonka is a nice guy who may have gone a little cooky because he locked himself up in a chocolate factory for decades with no human contact apart from the Oompa Loompahs. His obscure quotes (e.g. "Where is fancy bread, in the heart or in the head?" for a complete list of these awesome quotes check out http://home.att.net/~tom.brodhead/wonka.htm) and odd but friendly behavior (like plucking Mike TV's hair out) make him an intriguing but likeable character.
Johnny Depp's Wonka on the other hand, is mostly too strange and too over the top to be interesting. At the core, this Wonka is a mean, selfish guy. Despite the fact that he eventually learns the value of family by the end of the film, he has a long way to go to winning the hearts of the audience members, of any age.
What did you all think of the new version?
1 comment:
I think the original is great, and the updated version is just good. But I think that the updated version actually gives the story a little more depth. Part of the story is that Charlie is dirt poor, and this is somewhat problematic as the audience is led to believe that poverty is somewhat synanamous with virtue, as the other characters are well off and spoiled. What the second film does that is interesting is subvert how great it would be to have a candy factory. Charlie is a child who knows real poverty and to go from that to having a chocalate factory and pretending everything is great now would be dumb, and that is what the first film does to a certain degree. In the second film, Willy Wonka and Charlie both get something out the relationship beyond a simple business deal and the fact that Charlie can live with his family and have a better life becomes the central victory. The second film at least acknowledges the fact that selling the factory and pocketing the money to help others less fortunate than Charlie instead of feeding more spoiled kids with candy would be a more reasonable way to go.
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