Reviews

I'm a huge fan of the first movie, and although I expected the best from this, very different version, I was not very happy with what I got.

Without ruining the story, I will say this: this version flips the static/dynamic character structure. Instead of Willy Wonka being the one to emulate, the strong character who impacts Charlie, it's the other way around. Charlie is, in fact, perfect. Too perfect, I thought. It didn't seem very real to me. Meanwhile, Willy Wonka was flawed -- which is not in itself a problem at all -- but his problem, and its solution, came so quickly that it didn't seem very real, to me, either.

As for the good stuff: the visuals were incredible. And incredibly distancing. Many, many things did not make any sense at all. Again, not necessarily a problem, but I felt that it kept many of the universal themes from coming out as strongly as they likely could have.

Another note about the four children: it seems we hear very, very little from them and about them. And there are few factory extras to keep us awestruck. Most of the awe comes from the set designs -- and some very crazy, kooky musical numbers that will have you going, "Huh?" I can't call this a bad movie or a badly done movie. Many things are stopping me from making that judgment. It looks spectacular. And Johnny Depp's performance is also totally, totally cool. But I guess, in the end, what it lacked for me was feeling. Something to keep your heart in it. It looked like a lot of plastic to me. Pretty plastic, but just plastic.

It's no easy job fitting three fabulous children's books in one movie. But Brad Siberling did it. And it's the guy's first feature film.

The most credit goes to the cinematographer and set designers. (If I knew whether hitting the 'back' browser button would erase my comment or not, I would got to the film's main page and find these names. But I don't, so I won't.) But kind of like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, this film is scenic eye candy. Jim Carrey's costumes will get a good series of inner chuckles out of you, but so will all those funky cliffs, caves, and cages in and around the relatives' kooky abodes. Unlike Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Snicket is also good storytelling--considering the obstacles.

If you haven't read the books, this film makes perfect sense, having taken only the main narrative threads from the original weaving to hold the film's three chapters together, taking a few liberties with dramatic emphasis to condense three stories into one.

Bottom line--it's good fun, even if you're 22, as long as you can pardon the story for being a bit childish.