Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
For the first time in my very short career as a critic I really don't know my opinion.
This movie was definitely different. It was good in that it was creative, the camera work was really good, and it followed the original book. It was weird in that it was definitely made for children. The acting was good considering the fact that it was definitely made for children, but I don't know...I felt a little patronized watching it, if you know what I mean. It was weird, no doubt about it -- that can be a good thing.
Charlie is a young boy who lives in London (or, somewhere in Europe...). His family consists of him, his parents, and both sets of grandparents, and they are the epitome of dirt poor. They live in a house that, I kid you not, is about to fall over, and Charlie's bedroom floor (which also serves as the ceiling for the level below) is partly constructed with the remains of a door. There is also a hole in his roof -- during the winter. The point is, they are definitely what you would consider 'destitute'.
Willy Wonka is Charlie's hero. He owns the chocolate factory just up the street -- a legendary Mecca for chocolate lovers everywhere. It has been closed for the better part of two decades -- but something wonderful has happened. Willy Wonka is now reopening his doors to a select five people -- the five people who find the golden tickets Willy Wonka has hidden in five random candy bars. These bars could be anywhere in the world, and one happens to fall into Charlie's eager little hands.
Charlie's wildest dreams have come true -- he is going to meet the world-famous Willy Wonka! Not only that, but he is going to get a tour of Wonka's domain, the place where all the magic happens. And wait until you see just how much magic this place has in store!!
I give it points for creativity and originality. I subtract points for the Oompa Loompas -- you CANNOT have Oompa Loompas that don't have orange faces and green hair! Besides, the OL's in this flick were downright creepy. The others were at least funny, but these? They're just plain SCARY! At the same time, I add major amounts of points because the one guy playing the OL's had to do film takes for every single position that an OL occupied on the screen. That means that if there were 200 OL's on the screen, the guy did 'x' amount of takes for 200 OL's. That's only for the one shot with 200 OL's that will absorb maybe three seconds of the entire movie. THAT'S A LOT OF WORK. Having experience in the area of filmmaking, I know the amount of time and energy that goes into one take. It isn't exactly a walk in the park.
All weird and stupid-humor movies have a special place in my heart. I'll admit, even 'Napoleon Dynamite' (which I despise with a PASSION) has some merit with me. This is one of those movies. It wasn't superbly, outrageously fantastic, but it wasn't terribly horrible. Whether or not you will enjoy this film depends on the flexibility of your sense of humor as well as the 'child-likeness' of your imagination.
4 stars.
This movie was definitely different. It was good in that it was creative, the camera work was really good, and it followed the original book. It was weird in that it was definitely made for children. The acting was good considering the fact that it was definitely made for children, but I don't know...I felt a little patronized watching it, if you know what I mean. It was weird, no doubt about it -- that can be a good thing.
Charlie is a young boy who lives in London (or, somewhere in Europe...). His family consists of him, his parents, and both sets of grandparents, and they are the epitome of dirt poor. They live in a house that, I kid you not, is about to fall over, and Charlie's bedroom floor (which also serves as the ceiling for the level below) is partly constructed with the remains of a door. There is also a hole in his roof -- during the winter. The point is, they are definitely what you would consider 'destitute'.
Willy Wonka is Charlie's hero. He owns the chocolate factory just up the street -- a legendary Mecca for chocolate lovers everywhere. It has been closed for the better part of two decades -- but something wonderful has happened. Willy Wonka is now reopening his doors to a select five people -- the five people who find the golden tickets Willy Wonka has hidden in five random candy bars. These bars could be anywhere in the world, and one happens to fall into Charlie's eager little hands.
Charlie's wildest dreams have come true -- he is going to meet the world-famous Willy Wonka! Not only that, but he is going to get a tour of Wonka's domain, the place where all the magic happens. And wait until you see just how much magic this place has in store!!
I give it points for creativity and originality. I subtract points for the Oompa Loompas -- you CANNOT have Oompa Loompas that don't have orange faces and green hair! Besides, the OL's in this flick were downright creepy. The others were at least funny, but these? They're just plain SCARY! At the same time, I add major amounts of points because the one guy playing the OL's had to do film takes for every single position that an OL occupied on the screen. That means that if there were 200 OL's on the screen, the guy did 'x' amount of takes for 200 OL's. That's only for the one shot with 200 OL's that will absorb maybe three seconds of the entire movie. THAT'S A LOT OF WORK. Having experience in the area of filmmaking, I know the amount of time and energy that goes into one take. It isn't exactly a walk in the park.
All weird and stupid-humor movies have a special place in my heart. I'll admit, even 'Napoleon Dynamite' (which I despise with a PASSION) has some merit with me. This is one of those movies. It wasn't superbly, outrageously fantastic, but it wasn't terribly horrible. Whether or not you will enjoy this film depends on the flexibility of your sense of humor as well as the 'child-likeness' of your imagination.
4 stars.
posted by JGreenEyes at 8:22 PM
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