A few added dimensions include Depp's discovery of the little people of Loompaland, and a series of flashbacks involving Wonka's childhood. Burton gives us added detail in these scenes. We learn about the Oompa-Loompas' love of cocoa beans and pulverized caterpillars in one. In the other, we are shown the early struggles with orthodontic headgear, which Willy endured thanks to his dentist father played by the aging Christopher Lee.

If there's one element to the film that seems out of place, it's the maudlin reunion of Willy Wonka and his father. The movie races along like a well-oiled machine and then suddenly drops into low gear for a quick stop in Syrup-town. Burton stays pretty faithful to the book in every other respect except in this last little plot development. Perhaps he was trying to soften what has really been a guilty pleasure for grown-ups all along, with a Sunday school moral at the end. It feels fake and tacked on.

The effect is such that the ending feels flat. The children all get what they deserve, including Charlie, and once again, we are all older and wiser from the experience. I can't help but think that the director could have put a little more effort into Wonka's personal dilemma instead of sending us out with a big, half -chewed sucker.

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