Another film that missed the mark in some respects as compared to the original version was "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Tim Burton's new interpretation of Roald Dahl's classic children's book. This version was very much a Tim Burton film in style and look, but it lacked the same sort of character touches that made the fist film.
Early in 1971's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," Charlie shows his frustration at not finding Willy Wonka's "golden ticket" by mouthing off to his grandparents. He over-reacted in disappointment as kids sometimes do, and that's one of the touches that gave this fantasy a touch of authenticity.
In contrast, 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" lacked any such touches. Charlie is sad and disappointed when he fails to win the golden ticket, but he doesn't over-react or act otherwise inappropriately. Like the kids in the remake of "Bad News Bears," Charlie lacks some of the depth he had in the first film, and so leaves the audience less engaged in his life and his adventures. Kids, in particular, will identify more closely with characters of their age that are less than perfect.
4 comments:
The problem is that Tim Burton tries to turn all of his films into dramatic pieces by the end, and he's never been able to let the audience go with that feeling of satisfaction. The kids were funny, but they lacked the substance which made the kids from the original that much better. Another thing that kinda got me was during the Q&A when the producer said that he never actually saw the original. What the heck is up with that?
Why don't we just get down to business, shall we? And go a bit beyond 2005:
King Kong - Crap
War of the Worlds - Crap
Planet of the Apes - Crap
War of the Worlds(Again, Sci-Fi Channel) - Crap
The Poseidon Adventure(Network TV) - Crap
Solaris - Crap (Yes, It was a remake. There was a really good 3 hour Russian film with the same title, and a crappy U.S. horror version called "Event Horizon")
With all the really great science-fiction books that I have read that have not been made into a movie even once yet, why do they keep re-making good movies into crap?
Oh yeah, King Kong 1976 - Dino De Laurentiis - Crap
Actually, I really liked Event Horizon, despite the gore-fest it became.
C'mon, Rich, tell us what you think of King Kong. :) Ape love!
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