Charlie vs Harry: Battle of the Kid Lit Champs
Last night Ravi and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ravi NEVER goes to see movies, but he had gift certificates he received for his birthday.
As a child I was thoroughly enchanted by the book.
My appraisal of the movie: lots of technical wonder, but no emotional impact and Johnny Depp was down right creepy. All the comparisons to Michael Jackson are pretty apt. In some ways, it's fascinating to watch him, because he plays it completely straight. As a performance--it's brilliant. As Willy Wonka, I just doesn't work. You feel no compassion of wonder for the character, merely morbid curiosity.
As a kid I remember being so affected by Charlie and the build up to his discovery of the golden ticket. You could feel his literal hunger for that chocolate bar, with the gold ticket becoming almost a bizarre happenstance. In the movie, even the unwrapping of the ticket seems lacklustre and anti-climactic.
Alternatively, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet and their respective parents were all very well done caricatures (Mike TV on the other hand was altered in a violent video game addict and was just plain annoying).
Most of the movie felt like people standing around, waiting for spoiled brats to get their just desserts or Oompa Loompa's to do their disco numbers.
The squirrels was amazing though!
Meanwhile, I'm half way through The Half Blood Prince and loving it. Rowling never ceases to amaze me with her wisdom, sense of detail and ability to turn expectations on their heads (that despite the fact that all her books follow a pretty standard formula/rhythm).
The story continues to mature with its original audience, as reflected in Harry's relationships with Dumbledore, Hermoine and Ron.
Some really nice little touches which I won't spoil.