Elijah Wood Slams Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Elijah Wood didn’t hold back when asked which film he’d erase from history, taking aim at Tim Burton’s 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for missing the mark and stripping away the original’s magic.
If you had the chance to wipe a single film from the record books, which one would you pick? There’s no shortage of contenders. Some might go for Michael Bay’s entire output, others might target the endless Exorcist reboots, or perhaps Battlefield Earth. The list is long, and the choices are tough. Plenty of actors have admitted they’d love to see certain titles vanish from their own careers, but it’s rare that the worst offenders are the ones making those confessions. Hugh Jackman, for example, probably owes us all an apology for Movie 43, where he played a bloke with some rather unfortunate neck accessories, but he’s hardly the biggest culprit compared to someone like Steven Seagal.
Elijah Wood’s Surprising Choice
When it comes to Elijah Wood, there are a few duds in his filmography. The Last Witch Hunter from 2015, where Vin Diesel goes on a witch-hunting spree, wasn’t exactly a crowd-pleaser. And let’s not forget the 90s Flipper remake, which somehow managed to be even less entertaining than the original. But when Wood was asked back in 2017 which film he’d like to see erased from existence, he didn’t pick one of his own. Instead, he singled out Tim Burton’s 2005 take on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Wood didn’t mince words.
“Most remakes inherently don’t justify their existence,”
he said, pointing out that if you’re going to revisit a classic, you need to either outdo the original or take it in a completely new direction.
“That film did none of that. If anything, it destroyed the book, and it destroyed the film. It contained no magic.”
Burton’s Missed Opportunity
That’s a hefty accusation to level at a director known for his offbeat imagination. Burton’s films are usually packed with dark whimsy, and even his harshest critics would struggle to say he lacks a sense of magic. But in this case, Wood reckoned Burton’s approach did more harm than good to Roald Dahl’s beloved story. Johnny Depp, deep into his post-Pirates of the Caribbean phase, took centre stage and, in Wood’s view, the results were less than enchanting.
Wood described Depp’s version of Willy Wonka as
“heinous and terrifying and molest-y and strange,”
saying it was completely devoid of any beauty or innocence. Gene Wilder’s take on the character had its quirks, but by the end, you still felt a sense of wonder. Depp, on the other hand, seemed to be performing for the adults dragged along by their kids, chewing the scenery and leering without much purpose.
Audience Reactions and Legacy
It’s not the worst of Depp’s self-indulgent projects – that honour probably goes to Mortdecai from 2015 – but considering how much love there is for the original book and film, this remake was a big miss. Some punters enjoyed Burton’s version, but they’re likely the same folks who lined up for the fourth Pirates film just to see Depp do his Jack Sparrow routine again.
For those who came for the story, there wasn’t much to get excited about. Instead, there was plenty to make you cringe. Wood’s comments struck a chord with many who felt the magic had been lost, replaced by something far less appealing.