Wonderful Willy Wonka

Well, this post is a little late in coming (as I viewed this movie last week), but I felt the need to comment on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have to tell you that when I heard they were remaking the Willy Wonka movie I was extremely curious to see it. Especially when I knew that Johnny Depp would be playing Willy Wonka (Pirates of the Caribbean is my favorite movie!). I was so curious that I looked it up on Internet Movie Database and watched the first movie trailer for it. Because of that first trailer I was then freaked out! It looked to be a perverted version of the original I loved so dearly! So I immediately decided I didn't want to see it (at this point I must begin to seem very fickle). I did, however, go see some other movies such as Star Wars Episode 3 and Bewitched, both of which were fine but not the best movies I had seen. As many of you must know, each time you see a movie in the theater you are also exposed to several minutes worth of trailers for upcoming movies. So I saw a couple different trailers for Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. As it got closer to the time the movie was to be released, I also saw different interviews of the actors who had parts in the movie. Seeing those I started leaning toward the idea that it wasn't as creepy as I thought it was. Mom thought we could go see it last weekend and she told a few of her friends about it. One friend had heard that Tim Burton was making Willy Wonka out to seem androgynous this seemed odd to me... but we went to see the movie anyway. First of all... I could not see any sign of androgynous behavior on the part of Willy Wonka. Second of all the only slightly creepy part in the movie was when Veruca Salt decided that she wanted a Magical Squirrel, and then proceded to get one for herself. Yes, Willy Wonka is quite an odd character, but thats what happens when you aren't ever allowed to eat candy as a kid, and then live in a candy factory for most of your life. :) According to Tim Burton that is. One of the things I liked the most about the new movie, is Wonka's resurfacing memories throughout the movie that explain why he is who he is. Tim Burton did an excellent job on the sets for the movie and the storyline is much closer to the original, than the first movie. Another wonderful thing about the new movie is Charlie's devotion to his family. His sweet innocence mixed with the knowledge of his family's financial situation makes for an endearing character (plus he is played by Freddie Highmore from Finding Neverland). Charlie's excitement when he gets his birthday present, a Willy Wonka chocolate bar, and the generosity he has in sharing it with his whole family is quite unheard of in this day in age.
So in the end... after all is said and done... I think that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an excellent family movie and I would recommend it to anyone (unless of course you have an extreme fear of squirrels).