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captsparrow4everI got to see C&tCF Friday evening. I'll put my comments about it behind a cut.
Okay, so I _LOVE_ Johnny Depp--no surprise there. I'm also quite taken by Freddie Highmore. Maybe my opinion is a bit biased by those facts (not to mention that Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors.) My sister and I saw the film in a theater that was full--not packed but there were only one or two seats remaining when the movie started. It was interesting to see the trailer for "The Corpse Bride"--re-teaming Burton and Depp to do the animated (a la "Nightmare Before Christmas") story of Victor (basically, a stop-motion Ichabod Crane) who ends up married to a dead woman. It should be good.
The audience was kind of unusual. Lots of families, of course, but a lot of teens and twenty-somethings as well. Now, normally, I hate going to matinees of movies that are likely to appeal to children because, well, so many parents drop their kids at the theater and take off. This leaves the little heath-er, children to run wild. We all settled in and the movie started.
To my pleasant surprise, once C&tCF started, there was no talking, no "Mommy, I got to go potty", no "Mooo-ooooommm, I want some popcorn." As a matter of fact, the kids were so quiet, so absorbed in the story, I almost forgot they were there. What a great movie-going experience! I don't _hate_ kids; I just want parents to raise them better!
As for the movie itself, the sets were beautiful. Johnny's costume choices for Willy Wonka were awe-inspiring--I especially loved the purple rubber gloves. It's hard to be objective or surprised about the plot considering the book is so well-known and the old musical "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" has been shown on TV pretty regularly for years. Freddie as Charlie was fantastic. There wasn't a single role mis-cast, imo. I did appreciate the fact that Charlie had a dad in the movie as opposed to the absence of a father in the old musical. Deep Roy as the Oompa Loompas was absolutely INSPIRED!!
The script was good and I enjoyed the fact that so much of the dialogue (or would that be Dahl-ogue?) was taken from the book. It was probably the funniest movie I've seen in quite a while. I guess I don't understand the critics' obsession with "Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka/Michael Jackson". Superficially, there might be some physical similarities but nearly all eccentrics have some things in common. As for whether JD was "inspired" by MJ, who really cares? What matters is that JD has again taken an intriguing character in a good script to new levels. Burton seems to have done a good job in letting his cast play the scenes the way their characters dictate. I agree with one of the critics who called the Oompa Loompa numbers "Busby Berkley on crack." Very nice.
Willy's back-story was quite intriguing and I like the fact that the relationship between Willy and Charlie took time to build up. When I saw the musical version as an 8 year old kid, the boat-ride really freaked me out so I admit I've never been as fond of that movie as some people. I like Gene Wilder's portrayal but it was always "Gene Wilder AS Willy Wonka." JD made me think he _was_ Willy Wonka. The difference is subtle but, in the grand scheme of things, it makes for a much better performance. Needless to say, I've got to go see it again. Needless to say, I'll be quoting from the script in the weeks ahead.
"Cannibalism," heh heh heh heh!
Okay, so I _LOVE_ Johnny Depp--no surprise there. I'm also quite taken by Freddie Highmore. Maybe my opinion is a bit biased by those facts (not to mention that Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors.) My sister and I saw the film in a theater that was full--not packed but there were only one or two seats remaining when the movie started. It was interesting to see the trailer for "The Corpse Bride"--re-teaming Burton and Depp to do the animated (a la "Nightmare Before Christmas") story of Victor (basically, a stop-motion Ichabod Crane) who ends up married to a dead woman. It should be good.
The audience was kind of unusual. Lots of families, of course, but a lot of teens and twenty-somethings as well. Now, normally, I hate going to matinees of movies that are likely to appeal to children because, well, so many parents drop their kids at the theater and take off. This leaves the little heath-er, children to run wild. We all settled in and the movie started.
To my pleasant surprise, once C&tCF started, there was no talking, no "Mommy, I got to go potty", no "Mooo-ooooommm, I want some popcorn." As a matter of fact, the kids were so quiet, so absorbed in the story, I almost forgot they were there. What a great movie-going experience! I don't _hate_ kids; I just want parents to raise them better!
As for the movie itself, the sets were beautiful. Johnny's costume choices for Willy Wonka were awe-inspiring--I especially loved the purple rubber gloves. It's hard to be objective or surprised about the plot considering the book is so well-known and the old musical "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" has been shown on TV pretty regularly for years. Freddie as Charlie was fantastic. There wasn't a single role mis-cast, imo. I did appreciate the fact that Charlie had a dad in the movie as opposed to the absence of a father in the old musical. Deep Roy as the Oompa Loompas was absolutely INSPIRED!!
The script was good and I enjoyed the fact that so much of the dialogue (or would that be Dahl-ogue?) was taken from the book. It was probably the funniest movie I've seen in quite a while. I guess I don't understand the critics' obsession with "Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka/Michael Jackson". Superficially, there might be some physical similarities but nearly all eccentrics have some things in common. As for whether JD was "inspired" by MJ, who really cares? What matters is that JD has again taken an intriguing character in a good script to new levels. Burton seems to have done a good job in letting his cast play the scenes the way their characters dictate. I agree with one of the critics who called the Oompa Loompa numbers "Busby Berkley on crack." Very nice.
Willy's back-story was quite intriguing and I like the fact that the relationship between Willy and Charlie took time to build up. When I saw the musical version as an 8 year old kid, the boat-ride really freaked me out so I admit I've never been as fond of that movie as some people. I like Gene Wilder's portrayal but it was always "Gene Wilder AS Willy Wonka." JD made me think he _was_ Willy Wonka. The difference is subtle but, in the grand scheme of things, it makes for a much better performance. Needless to say, I've got to go see it again. Needless to say, I'll be quoting from the script in the weeks ahead.
"Cannibalism," heh heh heh heh!
