rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1971
Directed by Mel Stuart; produced by Stan Margulies, David L. Wolper; screenplay by Roald Dahl; based on his book
Starring Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole, Leonard Stone, Nora Denney
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
An annoying little kid named Charlie (Peter Ostrum), too much whiny people,
a beautiful production design, great creatures called Oompa Loompa's and a
brilliant Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. Basically this is what I think of
'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' after seeing it as an adult.
I loved this movie when I was around 10 years old, but I was not really able
to remember why. I watched it again and realized why I loved it that much as
a kid. It has great stuff in it, it looks beautiful, Willy Wonka is fun but
a little creepy as well, Charlie becomes a real hero and we have those funny
little men.
I still see most things this way, but now I noticed some other things. For
example how annoying Charlie actually is. May be it is the actor, may be it
is the character, but for some reason I did not like him anymore. And then
we have almost every other character that enters the chocolate factory.
Their whining is funny at first but after a little while it is enough. Of
course those characters are meant to be annoying, but in a complete funny
way.
These are some bad things for me and there is a very good chance it will not
bother you. May be they are your favorite things in the movie, who knows.
Fortunately there are also a lot of good things to appreciate. Like I said
the production design is perfect. It is colorful and the imagination has
done its work. And then those funny little men arrive, the Oompa Loompa's,
with their very funny song.
Last but not least we have Gene Wilder who is perfect as Willy Wonka.
Whenever he is on the screen I almost forget those other annoying
characters. In the end I still liked the movie but I didn't loved it as much
as I did before watching it again. Still, I think a lot of families will
have a perfect time watching this movie.