Just came back from a preview of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Cineleisure Orchard (it actually opens in Singapore tomorrow). Below are my comments.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Review - BEWARE OF SPOILERS

One thing that I really didn't like about the movie, being a fan of Roald Dahl and his books, was the way they followed / not followed the book.

Now let me say that I don't necessary think that you have to follow a book strictly to make a good movie - in many cases, following a book strictly makes the movie extremely draggy. I watched Matilda and The Witches, and they were decent even though they didn't follow the book exactly.

I read both books (both Chocolate Factory and the Great Glass Elevator), and I came into the movie expecting they would show an ending that preps for a sequel that would follow the Great Glass Elevator. The Great Glass Elevator is, by itself, worthy to make a pretty good movie. With this ending they make it rather hard to transition into the Great Glass Elevator, if at all, unless, of course, they twist the story furthermore.

Why?

In the movie, they introduce an extra dimension not found in the story, which is the childhood of Willy Wonka. It is used to explore the theme of family connectedness. For example, Charlie is asked to take over the factory - in the book he accepts readily, but in the movie he rejects the offer because it would separate him from his family.

Willy Wonka has a bad family history, and becomes estranged from his family when he goes into the chocolate business. The end of the story is about how he's reunited with his family (actually his dad, played by Christopher Lee, who needs a better set of teeth if he wants to play a paranoid dentist).

The problem is that with family rooting him back to Earth, it is hard to see how he would dare to undertake the adventures that are described in the Great Glass Elevator, which has him blasting off into space and risking all kinds of dangers.

Oh well, they could always twist the story around again.

This is the one major twist in the story. Other than that, the book is followed pretty much to the letter, other than a few conversational changes that add humour and are rather good. The problem with this twist, other than the fact that it makes a sequel rather inane, is that it makes Willy Wonka look human. For goodness' sake, every single character in this book is stereotyped to the extreme, even Charlie! It's supposed to be a direct simple story that children and adults can enjoy. If you want to make a thoughtful movie, you should intersperse it with various themes throughout and explore them more deeply, not attempt to cover it so superficially.

The other problem with the movie is that it's toooooo draggy. It follows every single oompa-loompa song. After the first two, its pretty good, but when it gets to Mike Teevee, it's just a bit of a bore. But this is a relatively minor point. It's times like this where sometimes its better to deviate from the book.

Other than that, the movie is pretty good. It DOES follow the book closely actually, and portrays the characters pretty well - their stereotypes all demonstrated in their full glory. And it's pretty funny too!

I think the problem is that the script makes the movie a bit darker - in my humble opinion the best way to do a movie adaptation of a book such as this is to keep the spirit of the book, which is cheerful, upbeat, and humorous, not introduce serious themes such as family (dis)connection which makes the movie darker.

All in all, this reviewer gives it 2.5 / 5. Go for it if you're a hardcore fan of Depp - else your cash might be better spent elsewhere. [ Edited 8/8 ]