I grew up a huge fan of the original with Gene Wilder. I loved that one! Still do. And because of that, I was reluctant to see this version. Before seeing it, I had the idea that Johnny Depp’s character was creepy and just not right.

However, then someone reminded me that in the book, Willy Wonka was not the lovable Gene Wilder, but a man who despised children. This openned me up a bit to the Depp portrayal.

In addition to the acting, you’ve got to love the world that Tim Burton creates. I love the fact that they talked in dollars yet paid with British pounds. Was that so that the younger American children would better understand or simply to make the setting that much more unique? I don’t know. But I like it!

I too cannot help comparing this version to the previous film version. I had read somewhere that this movie made Willy Wonka seem like Michael Jackson – i.e., creepy (no offense to the MJ fans out there-just quoting a review). And it’s true. Gene Wilder’s Wonka was whimsical but there was a touch of melancholy about him. And yes, the bratty kids got what was coming to them in the original… but as much as I love Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, Depp’s Wonka is creepy and this movie feels both flat and mean-spirited, as though Wonka has brought the kids to the factory for the purpose of mocking them and watching them turn themselves into bluberries and whatnot. Also many of the best scenes of the original have been re-envisioned in a way that dilutes their impact. The scene on the boat near the beginning was great in the original and dull in the remake, despite the fact that both utilized similar lines from Wonka and were trying to convey a sense of the strange and foreboding. And the ending drove me insane! Perhaps I am too old. My nephew, who is in third grade, thinks this movie is “so much better than the other one.” He also says that “The young people prefer the new Star Wars movies because they’re cooler.”