Before we went and got our books Karen and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We got there only a few minutes before the movie started. The movie was sold out and it was a fairly small theater, which meant seats were sparse. We found a couple on an end with empty seats on either side. Karen asked them to move over and were able to get pretty good seats. The only downside to the seats was that they seemed to be directly below the AC duct which was blasting, I was freezing. Another weird thing was a coupld that came in right before the movie during the trailers. They couldn't find a seat they liked so they just sat down on the stairs next to us.
To the movie. I had some expectations going in due to the fact it was a Tim Burton / Johnny Depp film, also I quickly realized it had Danny Elfman music too. The movie is not a remake of the earlier Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, it was another interpretation of the original book. Since they are based on the same thing there are many scenes that are in both and are similar. As is normal for a Tim Burton film there is a unique look to the film, both brighter and darker than the original film. It was really cool to see visualization using current technology of Willy Wonka's inventions. There was also the storyline of Willy's father which I don't think was in the original film at all.
The only thing I didn't like as much about the film was the Oompa Loompa singing scenes. These scenes were mostly parodies of songs with elaborate choreography. They were cute, however it didn't seemed to mixed properly, which may have been the theaters fault. Often you couldn't hear the lyrics or understand them over the music. The scenes are an important part of the story, but just didn't work as well for me.
Overall I really enjoyed the film and definitely recommend it. Especially if you like other Tim Burton films like Beetlejuice, Big Fish or Sleppy Hollow.
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