I DON'T HATE THIS FILM!! I remember this to be a childhood classic, I enjoyed it when I was little. But I did read the book after a couple years after I saw it. I didn't really see the problems and didn't know if there were any problems turning books into films. I know everyone saw this and loved it, but apparently Roald Dahl didn't like it. But since I'm older, I know the problems and I prefer books over films, not all the time but I prefer the books other than the film that was based upon the book. So I'm more likely to talk about the problems I learned. Don't get me wrong, some other critics made a good point that Charlie in the film seemed more like a kid while in the book he's just gets the factory because he didn't touch anything. So the Charlie in the film wins a point. Anyway, here's the problems with the film.
1. The title.
This is a bit of a minor thing. In the book it was 'Charlie and the chocolate factory'. What ruins it is the that the people would think it's focused on Wonka, not Charlie. I know in the film we find out it isn't, but it's about how you address the film. If you use Wonka's name, people would take it the wrong way.
2. The story of Prince Pondicherry isn't mentioned.
I know the part in the book about Pondicherry is technically a waste of paper so it would be filler in the film. But, the story of Pondicherry also explains how wonderful Wonka is, he was able to make a palace out of chocolate, so they should have mentioned or shown this in the film. I wish they did show this in the film, so I'm glad they did show us this in the remake.
3. The geese.
In the book it was squirrels that choose which is the good nut and used in the chocolate bar (the nuts, not the squirrels)but instead of squirels, it's geese. OK, so it has a bit of an excuse, I mean I don't think it would be possible to train squirrels to attack a girl and shove down the garbage chute. (Boy that was something I didn't expect to type) it can only be done by computer animation so it has an excuse to use geese instead.
4. The visuals.
It's weak. We do see the basics of the factory, the TV room, the entrance, the inventing room et cetera. But in the book, it mentions more about the wonderous features in the factories. The square sweets that look round (which I admit in the book it's a surprise what they meant) isn't mentioned or much less seen. I wanted to see more about the factory, don't just mention them. And the visuals of the oompa loompas were weird. I know they're supposed to be weird creatures but in the book, they were just normal people who looked smaller, nothing needs to be changed. I know its interesting how they invisioned the oompa loompas but Roald Dahl imagined them to look like people, so they should look like people.
5. The songs.
All the songs actually turn this into a musical. I know there's nothing wrong with musicals, but in the book the only songs there is, is when the oompa loompas start singing, that's it, you don't have to add any songs. And even though they do make the oompa loompas sing, it completely different from the lyrics in the book! All they do is use the chorus "Oompa loompa doopidy doo' (wow, the creativity of the lyrics is outstanding) and add other lyrics to the songs in different scenes but that's it. In the book they're also explaining a story in the songs, in the film it's completely different. I know the songs are classical but that is not how Roald Dahl wrote it.
6. Slugworth.
This is a major mistake in the film. Slugworth was only mentioned in the book, for one page! We just know Slugworth used the stolen recipe from Wonka and made bubblegum that can make the largest bubbles but that's it! We never see Slugworth at all in the book, just mentioned. And for some reason in the film he is like some kind of antagonist who was apparenlty used as some part of Wonka's plan to make sure who to choose to take control of the factory. WHY!? I know it seems to be an interesting part in the film but they shouldn't have done that! Roald Dahl only mentioned him so they shoudln't expand the character. They should follow on how the book goes but that's it. OK they can do a few changes but no major changes.
7. Charlie and Grandpa Joe get in trouble.
In the film, after the group leaves the fizzy drink room, Charlie and Grandpa Joe are fascinated by the drink which makes people float. But unfortunetly they start to float too high when they drink and nearly cut to shreds because of the massive fan in the ceiling. Thankfully they were able to float down safely by burping. They decided to join the group afterwards. WHERE DID THEY GET THE IDEA FROM!? It never happened in the gosh-darn book. This is a major change to the plot and technically filler, so don't add a new scene when there was no chapter about it!
8. The outburst at the end.
This is a scene I truly didn't like, I don't like yelling, especially in children's films. Wonka finds out that Grandpa Joe and Charlie drink the fizzy drink and is angered by this. In the book (including the part that didn't happen in the book at number 6) he actually is pleased that Charlie didn't touch any of the products and explains why he wanted children to take control the factory. Why did they avoid that? OK, he does explain but it didn't go the same way it was mentioned in the book!
9. Wonka.
This is another major point that's wrong. In the film I do like how he seems mysterious and looks like he has things planned out. But when the children take the products he doesn't even care what happens. I know the kids were annoying and greedy but it could have been because of bad parenting skills. Have you seen the father of Veruca Salt? Seriously he needs to act more like the head of the household. Even though the consequences didn't seem so bad for Mike Teavee and Violet Beauregarde but it definetly was for Veruca Salt and Augustus Gloop. But in the book he was actually worried on what happened to the kids. In the book, he is a flamboyant character and he is telling Violet to stop chewing the gum and is anxious for her to stop. In the film however, he let's her, even though he tell her to stop, it dosen't work since he says it nonchalantly. She is going to have side effects, stop her! I know it doesn't sound that bad swelling up with blueberry juice, but it makes a heck of an embarrassment. He should worry, the parents can sue, he should have stopped them. In the book he wasn't able to but he was concerned about the children's safety.
And that's the list. And I'm not sure if Roald Dahl would like the remake, and I'm not sure either; it was almost there but just went a bit wrong, especially the fact when we get to see more about Wonka rather than Charlie. Now I might make some more comparisons between books and the films that was based on the book, I'm not sure. I might do Percy Jackson and the Lightning thief, but I read the book, but didn't see the film. Though I did see the plot in Wikipedia and some of the images so I know it's just rubbish. In do time people, in do time.
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