Movie Review - Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a well-done movie, filled with details and background. Tim Burton did a very good job taking us around the Factory while providing more insight than the first movie did. Burton has the ability to take hold of his audiences and hold them, even amaze them throughout the entire movie. However, you do have to enjoy his style. This is one of Burton's better films, definitely up there with Edward Scissorhands and Nightmare Before Christmas.

Johnny Depp did an outstanding job portraying Willy Wonka. This role proves just how good of an actor he has become. While I was watching the movie I totally forgot that it was Johnny Depp playing the character, he was just that convincing. All that I saw on the screen was Willy Wonka. Tim Burton showed a different side to Willy Wonka. He showed that the character isn’t perfect, he's a little bit more weird than in the original movie. This movie gives us some details to Wonka's past, which is not covered in the original version. This movie lets you see who Willy Wonka is and why he is the way he is.

The sets were incredible, as were the script and the direction.

One of the complaints that I have heard is that Johnny Depp’s portrayal was rather creepy, bordering on Michael Jackson creepiness. I didn’t see it.

The other complaint that I have heard is that they changed the oompa loompa theme song. The songs are not new, they are the original songs describing each child that Roald Dahl wrote into the book. In the credits it even states that Danny Elfman performed vocals for the oopma loompa songs, but Roald Dahl wrote the lyrics.

In conclusion, the trip to the Chocolate Factory was a great and interesting one, a lot of fun. There is enough funny parts in the movie for children to enjoy and adults will like it because it's entertaining. This isn’t just a remake, its much, much more. The original movie was good but this version is truly incredible.

Movie Review - War of the Worlds

When I heard that Spielberg was doing a remake of The War of the Worlds I was filled with both excitement and apprehension. The original War of the Worlds has always been one of my favorite movies and I was thrilled with the idea of a remake. But I kept remembering the last remake Spielberg did of another favorite movie of mine, The Haunting. I was extremely disappointed in that movie. But the signs going into War of the Worlds were pretty good. We have Spielberg and Cruise teaming up again. Critics seemed to like this movie and word of mouth was pretty good.

This War of the Worlds movie does not stray very far from the original version. The plots the same but instead of showing the events from a military view it shows it from the eyes of an average Joe.

Unlike the over blown special effects of The Haunting the special effects in this one are not over blown and they do not take away from message of fear and dread.

In terms of the acting, Dakota Fanning did a great job. It’s quite hard to believe that she is only 11 years old. Tim Robbins gave an excellent performance, though his screen time was too short. I thought that Tom Cruise did a pretty descent job as the caring father trying to protect his children, though it wasn't his strongest role to date.

I guess the only complaint that I have is that the end came rather abruptly.