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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
posted at 2:00 AM  
Ben and Manda had me over tonight, and as usual we watched a movie. This time it was Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Ben went all out, buying each of us a Wonka bar, plus several other Wonka candies to share (such as Sweet Tarts and a Nerds Rope).
I'd heard bad things about the movie, so I was interested to see how it was. And to be honest...
...I really liked it! It was totally different from the Gene Wilder classic (which I also love). I don't know if it was closer to or further from the book than the original movie, because I (gasp) haven't read the book (or if I have I don't remember it). Regardless, I've come to the conclusion that it's not worth retelling a story if you're going to just do it all exactly the same. If it's just a rehash, you may as well not bother and just let people watch/read the original.
This was definitely not a rehash.
Mike Teevee changed from a kid who stared at TV shows all day to a child hacker who played violent video games. (A little cliche and annoying, but realistic. If the kid hadn't been such a brat I would have liked him. Gamers, as always, can do their part to combat the violent videogames stereotypes by donating to Child's Play.) Towards the end of the movie, we see what happened to all the children; Mike comes out stretched very tall and very flat.
Veruca Salt was cast into the garbage chute not after an extended "I want it now" song and dance number in a room full of geese laying golden eggs, but instead after being judged a "bad nut" by a slew of trained squirrels (who then went on to knock her father in after her). This resulted in the most boring of the conclusions; they simply walked out of the factory covered with garbage and assailed by flies.
Violet Beauregarde turned into a driven competitor, egged on by her crazy mother. This change was a little scary, because there are plenty of children with mothers who actually act like that. Violet was still a gum smacker, refusing to stop her furious chewing even when ballooning to ridiculous proportions, but she ended up permanently purple and gifted(?) with rather remarkable flexibility.
Augustus Gloop's story was essentially the same. His ending, with his mother admonishing him not to eat his fingers, was kind of surreal (was he actually turned, at least partially, into fudge?) and funny.
The Oompa Loompas were, of course, different. I have to say that I like the old orange skinned, green haired style best, but Deep Roy is pretty impressive nonetheless, and the songs are entertaining, assuming you can understand the lyrics. (And how could you not love a man named Deep Roy?)
In this version, Charlie has a father, and Grandpa Joe gets up and dances a jig--twice--giving you the impression that he's been freeloading the whole time. The introductory factory sequence is CGI and ridiculous--but then, you know, candy doesn't have to have a point. That's why it's candy. (Or so I understand.) One nice thing was that Charlie and Grandpa Joe did not steal Fizzy Lifting Drink, and the whole Slugworth subplot was nonexistent.
The most interesting change, though, was that of Willy Wonka's personality and backstory. In this movie, he has an estranged father, and this lack of a relationship tempers Wonka's reactions to everything. He's also been alone (with his Oompa Loompas) in the factory for 15 years, and that has obviously seriously affected his social skills. I was virtually in solitary confinement for just nine months once, and let me tell you, a lack of contact with varied human beings will make you a little nutty and a lot timid. Wonka's fumbling for what to say, his note cards, his refusal to listen to Mike Teevee ("Mutterer!"), his clumsiness, and his snide comments all fit. He hasn't had to deal with people for fifteen years, and now all of a sudden he has to deal with ten.
The movie seemed to be coming to a close rather quickly, and that was because it went on well after the original movie ended. And the ending was totally different. I won't spoil it, but suffice it to say that things ended up getting resolved in a rather unique way.
It was a cute, weird, sweet movie. At times it was slightly surreal, especially the bright blue of Veruca's eyes against the general pasty tones of the film and the twisted look on her face as she tried to win someone over. The kids did not leave the factory restored exactly as they had been. And Willy Wonka was not perfect.
It was not better or worse than Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It was something else entirely.
And it was good.
Comments
Amen!
I went to see it in theaters with some friends and was spellbound. It was beautifully written, produced, directed and acted. It's a very sophisticated film and I love one of the morals that's pervasive throughout: actions have consequences and you'd better be prepared to live with them. Wonka is indifferent to the suffering of brats who bring it on themselves and there's no attempt made to show the brats "learning their lessons" -- they simply have misfortune. I loved it and I took my 7 y.o. nephew to see it.
I also note that you have mentioned several times that you like Fifth Element (as do I) and I like it because it's visually stunning (and advanced for its day) and the story is a perfect blend of French quirkiness and good old American blow 'em up action. It's just a fun film.
Films like Wonka and Fifth Element must be appreciated as finely crafted engines of entertainment. They are both extremely detailed pieces that are provocative at several levels. People who don't like these films, tend to not be overly analytical about and deconstructive of their entertainment. A good movie for them is one that excites the senses and leaves little intellectual residue for later consumption.
...do you realize that you have essentially said "people who don't like this are dumb"?
;>
No, I said they aren't interested in smart films. Some people prefer their movies dumb; they don't want or expect more from them. For instance, most of the fiction I read is science fiction, and most people can't stomach the genre because of the bad writing and thin characters. I, on the other hand, am willing to sit through several hours of bad reading to get a handful of nifty ideas about alien planets, star travel, or exobiology. On the surface, it doesn't reveal anything about my own intelligence that I read dumb fiction. I don't go into the experience expecting to read dialogue that doesn't make me cringe or plot twists that aren't evident fifty pages before. But ever so often you'll read an idea and you'll know "this author wrote this book around that very idea and a few others; and it's a nifty idea."
Man, you're no fun :>
I agree, this was one of the movies I got to watch while sick, I was apprehensive and had low expectations, but I LOVED it!
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