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Too Weird for Words

About an hour ago my husband and I got home from seeing Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I have to say, I initially couldn't think of any words to describe this movie. It was weird beyond words, but then that's what I expect from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. All in all it was a good movie, very well done and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, where to start?

The kids did a great job acting in this movie. My favorites, in order, were: Veruca, Violet, Charlie, Augustus, and Mike. I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan, so of course, think he did a great job. Then there was Christopher Lee. While this wasn't one of his most stellar, spectacular roles, it seemed like he had a great time playing Wonka's father. In fact, the entire cast seemed like they were given the go-ahead from Burton to just "have fun with it" and it truly showed. They formed a good ensemble which shone through on the big screen. Finally, I thought it was remarkable that one actor portrayed all the Oompa Loompas.The musical numbers were well done, especially the choreography. Composer Danny Elfman did a really good job with the music, both the instrumental score and the lyrical songs.

In many talk show interviews, the statement was frequently made that this movie was a whole new movie and not a remake, but I feel I must make at least one comparison to the first Chocolate Factory movie starring Gene Wilder. People have commented that the Wilder version was scary to them. However, if I was a young child seeing this movie, I think this version would probably give me nightmares. In fact, the following scenes (written in green - highlight to read) will probably give me nightmares.


1) The scene where the musical dolls catch fire and melt. My thought on viewing this scene - before they caught fire, that is - was, "So this is what happens to Disney dolls when they get tired of singing "It's a Small World" for the ten thousandth time."

2) When Violet turns into the blueberry. What a freaky transformation to watch.

3) The squirrels attacking Veruca. Then again I tend to get freaked out by shots of furry rodents swarming all over a person. Eeks! Gives me the heebee jeebies thinking of it. (Shudder, shudder)


Despite these scenes, though, we both thought the movie was great. I don't know if I'll see it again in the theatre, but will definitely buy it on DVD. Hopefully it will come with good special features to boot.

Until next time,

Happy movieing!

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