When a re-make of a film is done the natural thing for anyone to do is to compare it and unfortunately I'm going to have to do that a little to make my points. But I genuinely believe that more people would have enjoyed this film so much better, if the 1971 Gene Wilder film hadn't already been made. This 2005 adaption has just as much heart, the story is beautifully told and every member of the cast were absolutely spot on with the acting. As a huge Roald Dahl fan myself who has read the book many times over the years, I believe Johnny Depp captures the essence of Willy Wonka more accurately than Gene Wilder. Wilder was wonderful and did his own classic take on it but Johnny Depp makes him appear a lot more eccentric - much like he was in the original story.

The '71 version certainly has better music which helps justify its status as the classic adaption of the film which everyone loves. "Pure Imagination" is one of my favourite songs ever recorded and "The Candy Man" is also a gem. (These songs were written by one of my favourite singers, Anthony Newley along with Leslie Bricusse.)
One of the few flaws in the 2005 adaption is the fact that the music (particularly the Oompa Loompa singing voices) sounds very robotic and they've clearly tried to put in multiple styles of music. Arguably you could say that this fits in with the eccentric nature of the Willy Wonka character but I think it's because of this one minor issue why it falls short of becoming the classic film it should be. It doesn't have the charm of "Pure Imagination". Although it has to be said, that Willy Wonka is not meant to be charming! Quite rightly, he doesn't particularly like people in general. That was a major point lost on Gene Wilder. And therefore perhaps charming songs would be too wholesome.

The lyrics for the Oompa Loompa songs in the 2005 adaption were written by Roald Dahl as they're taken from the book and therefore once again, more true to the original story.

Unlike so many modern films, the camera work just tells the story! And that's wonderful because I'm SO SICK of seeing focus pulls for no apparent reason! I'm so sick of camera guys trying to show off! The only obvious focus pull I can remember in this film is when Wonka notices a grey hair in the barber scene. And that's good. A camera should go unnoticed. So for any camera crew reading this - just set the focus and leave it at that!!!! It's the story and acting we should be concentrating on. Stop showing off! They could pull focus back in the early 1900s but they didn't because they knew how to tell stories! It's nothing new. It doesn't make the film any better. It's distracting. SO STOP IT!!!!

All in all, this film is just as good as the '71 adaption and it's certainly more true to the book. Roald Dahl disowned the Gene Wilder version. We can't predict what he would have thought of this adaption but Johnny Depp certainly plays Wonka how I've always imagined him when reading the book. And as I've previously said, each member of the cast is outstanding. The acting is superb. There isn't a weak link among them. Tim Burton should be proud. Thank you for making such a wonderful film that I've already watched many times and will continue to see time and time again.

Not as good as the original but still good nonetheless. Johnny Depp is really the only reason this movie was good. I think any other actor that would have played that character would have made the movie suck.