I got ahold of the new version today. I love Johnny Depp even back in the 21 Jumpstreet days I was a huge fan of his. If you havn't seen this yet, it's definitly worth a view, I think it's a little more violent than the original. If you have young kids you may want to preview it first, there's just a few scenes I was suprised to see.

* Minor Spoilers* Minor Spoilers* Minor Spoilers*

I think the disappointment came with the lack of creativity in the ending vs the older 1971 version. I'm not going ot give away either movies, but take a gander at both movies, and you don't feel that special majic from the second movie.

I really thought they blew off a lot of the craziness. I did not like the Umpa-Lumpas. The 1971 song was great, I can mumble through the chorus to this day. The new ones are totally revamped with no relavence to the old song. The 1971 boat they use to sail down the chocolate river is cheezy, but it looks the part. The new one is just rediculous looking, and there is a new theory in the new one on how the Umpa Lumpa's came to live.

While the new Depp version is not a complete disaster in my mind. It still did stay true to the older movie, which was a good thing. My disliking of the movie was not a result staying true, but a dull meaningless ending they created in the new version was just crap. They really could have saved the movie for me keeping the ending like the 1971 one. Luckily, they still keep a moral to the story for the kids, but it doesn't seem to really have been like 1971 did.

I think you have to look at both movies as completely different entities. Not only because of the era in which each film was made, the actors, etc. But, because each is a completely different interpretation of the source material. I will always treasure the first movie, it got me through many a Thanksgiving spent at my grandparents' house. But, the second was fun and inventive in parts. The differences were vast, but both retained a very distinct flavor of the original story.

All in all, I recommend both. There were parts of the Buron/Depp version I prefer, such as the history of Willie Wonka and the squirrels. But, the songs in the first, and Gene Wilder as Willie Wonka made the character more appealing in that he wasn't so strange looking and reminiscent of Michael Jackson.

I think you have to look at both movies as completely different entities.

That's what I think too. I really enjoyed the new one, but I actively tried while watching it to not compare it to the old one because I know that my feelings about the old one are tinged with nostalgia.

We had another thread on this with a few comments.

http://www.repairmanjack.com/forum/showt...te+factory

Spoilers!!!



I thought the Tim Burton Version was better than the Mel Stuart version in almost every way except for the Umpa Loompa songs, the crazy tunnel scene, the end, and I missed the Gene Wilder songs too. While all of those things were great in the Tim Burton version (although Johnny Depp didn't sing), they were just too perfect in the Mel Stuart version to be changed.

I did miss Gene Wilder's portrayal of Willy Wonka, but Johnny Depp was so awesome in his reimagined "glam" version of Willy that I was soon able to get over my preconceptions and get into this new character. I think the Willy Wonka childhood elements, and the extra background information on the chocolate factory and Charlie's grandfather was great. I think the child actors were so much better in the new one. The squirrels ruled. The chocolate factory it's self was so much more amazing. (One of the rare testaments to cgi making a film better.) I also thought the difference between Charlie and the other kids was so much more clear in this one. The actor that played Charlie was phenominal. He just had so much character. Charlie was truely a good boy with a good heart. They made the distinctions so much more clear in this version. When he turned Wonka's offer down, it was really a powerful scene, knowing how rough their life was and he was choosing that over leaving his family to be the largest candy manufacturer in the world.

Overall, I'd give Tim Burton's version the advantage, but by only 2 or 3 percent. The real test will be if I feel the same way in 34 years!! Time is the biggest test for films.