Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son

I thought is was quite spiffy and don't see why Johnny Depp's performance is getting such bad reviews. Sure he wasn't hot buttered perfection like Gene Wilder but I though Depp's Wonka was a kooky hoot and a half (I especially enjoyed the creepy Michael Jackson giggle).
I spent most of my time comparing the new actors to the actors who played the same character in the original and the only time that I longed for the original portrayer was in the case of Veruca Salt. The present day Veruca was plenty bratty but she didn't have that malicious sneer of the original. Charlie's Veruca was just a rotten kid (a bad nut if you will) but Wonka's Veruca was a friggin sociopath. I always envisioned her growing up to become Cruella deVille...killing dogs and kidnapping children for kicks and stuff.
Where Charlie really scored was with Charlie himself. The current actor was great while the original was an annoying little bastard with an incredibly oversized head that was made all the more huge becasue the little freak wore a turtleneck through the entire film.
My only complaint is with the Oompa Loompas. What the hell was Burton thinking making them into miniscule clones of some Pakistani guy with a wierd karaoke fetish? I needed orange midgets dammit! There is one cardinal rule of life and its that you can't go wrong with midgets and monkeys. Its a shame that Burton forgot that rule.
Anyhoo, Oompa Loompas aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and give it three out of four Hong Kong Phooeys.