Movie Review: Creamy Goodness IN IMAX!

The Movie: Reclusive Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) allows five children to tour his chocolate factory in search of an heir. During the tour the kids show there bad sides and are dealt with in true wonka fashion. Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz) really likes his chocolate...and falls into the chocolate river. Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) is a bad nut...or so the squirrels say. Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb) becomes a blueberry...and has to be squeezed. Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry) gets broken into bits and televised. Which leaves Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) who wins the factory. Hilarity Ensues, but will Charlie give up his family for the factory like Wonka did?

The Experience: This is not Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka. Johnny Depp turns the lovable candy maker into an awkward, eccentric, slightly mad, effeminate, brooding man who is very sure of his candy, but not so sure of himself. This movie is pure Tim Burton. If you liked Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Big Fish, and Beetle Juice will love the visual style and quirky characters brought to the screen. Oh yeah, did I mention that I saw it at an IMAX theater? For those of you who don't know what IMAX is, it's a screen that is 60 feet high and 80 feet wide. It is a very large format screen. This movie just drew me into the action. It was awesome. This movie is not a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory from 1971, it closely follows the book including the nut sorting room where Varuca is found to be a bad nut (instead of the golden geese where she was found to be a bad egg), and the origin of the Oompa Loompas. You can truly love both movies in their own way.

The Score: 8 out of 10 Oompa Loompas, what do you think?