Reviews

I will admit first off that I am a HUGE fan of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, but more importantly, Roald Dahl and his wonderful children's story. Thus, I lay in anxious anticipation for this film for over a year, and my biggest fear was that they would completely butcher the story, no matter how much faith I have in these cinematic geniuses.

HOWEVER, Burton and Depp and Dahl are obviously a trio of much creative power. Burton's penchant for fairy-tale stories with a quirky twist, Depp's eagerness to go out on a limb for unique characters, combined with Dahl's ingenious, age-old story make for one FANTASTIC movie.

The visuals in this movie, aside for some futuristic stuff like the television room, were on par with what the book intended, I thought, and inside the factory one is completely immersed in Wonka's wonderland. The only bad thing about the factory tour is that we didn't get to see enough of it - only enough for the story to make sense, although I really wish Burton had included some of the book's highlights such as "Square Candies That Look Round." Depp's acting was exactly the right kind of bizarre mystery that the role of Wonka required. Freddie Highmore, who plays Charlie, lived up to my hoped and is truly an amazing child actor. All of the children, parents, and other characters (most notably Deep Roy for his hilarious turn as the Oompa Loompas) were also highly amusing. The great story was accompanied by a fair bit of humour, humour that was insightful and often caught you off-guard.

The one major criticism I have of this movie is the addition of the Wonka back-story. To me, the fact that one didn't know about Wonka's past simply added to the mystery and excitement of the story. Although it fit in nicely with the film, I felt it took away from Charlie's story, which is after all the essence of the story.

Overall, though, this is a great movie. Mature kids will really enjoy it, and littler ones will like it for its great use of colour and joy.

Three thumbs up!

It's hard to review such a popular, blockbuster film as Pirates. Basically, Depp's acting is terrific. So is Geoffrey Rush's. Bloom makes another appearance in a big movie, but both his and Knightley's characters are fairly shut out due to Depp. Some great dialogue; the script is absolutely hilarious. I have to admit I loved the costuming and makeup (it's unfortunate that all its Oscar nominations occurred during the year of Lord of the Rings). The music is also wonderful, fitting the adventurish theme perfectly. Although the story has a couple flaws and there is a fair bit of Hollywood predictability, the movie counters this with humour and good storytelling. All in all, the first pirate movie of its kind - modern, funny, and adventurous.

It is difficult to describe what Stainboy is. What we can say is that Stainboy is another one of Burton's darkly mischievous and funny creations. Directly from his book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy, Burton takes Stainboy's character from a sketch to a full-fledged character who tackles his counterparts in, well, rather unique ways.

The series is almost a parody of superheroes (what kind of a power is staining, anyways?), yet you as the viewer will indefinitely find yourself cheering him on towards success. Although the villains aren't as evil as they could be (and bizarre nonetheless), the creators have envisioned a world mirroring our own, where superheroes are simply strange creatures, and life is simply screwed up.

Don't get me wrong, these movies are very well made. It's amazing that these books were actually made into films in the first place. It takes a lot of vision to accomplish that. However, as a film or even a trilogy, there are several fallbacks. Firstly, there is a lot of unneeded dialogue. Secondly, after the audience waits for the climax and then the rundown at the end of the film, the movie doesn't end. It feels it needs to tie up loose ends that most audience members won't see, such as what happens to Bilbo. All in all, the vision deserved the Academy Award, although as always, there is room for improvement.

This film is unique, inspiring, haunting, and ... well, long, all at once. It differentiates itself from all other movies that have so far been made about the Holocaust. Why? Little things like filming in black and white, John William's amazing score, and a look at the perspective of the Nazis, which is uncommon.

Not only is the story beautiful, but it is reinforced by wonderful performances from the actors, good dialogue and music.

Go see this movie. It will change the way you see things. It makes the victims of the Holocaust as well as the Nazis real people, instead of generalizing like our modern day does without knowing it.