I think this film was fabulous. I hated the old film and am so pleased a new one was made. Johnny Depp was superb as were all the kids in the film. Freddie Highmore was particularly brilliant, he is one of the best young actors of the moment.

Just clicked on the link in our film-database to find this review.  After seeing all the ratings of 9 and 10, it was literally a shock.

Now first of all, it must be said that Johnny Depp is a god in my country.  Almost to the degree of utter sickness.  For any female over the age of 40, it's Depardieu..... for anyone under the age of 40, it's Depp.

But back to the movie.  WHAT film did everyone see?  Yes Freddie Highmore was a delightful young actor, there's no doubt.  He could make any movie more enjoyable just by his presence and the fact that he's a very good actor.

However, this film...... from it's crooked and ridiculously unrealistic house...... to Depp's incredibly outlandish makeup...... and then they just had to "get with the 21st century" and add in Depp's poor-neglected-by-his-father twist into the story..... added to the loads and loads of unrealistic special effects...... and Depp overacted nearly every line, trying to make us believe his character.  It could have been the adult version Macauley Culkin under that hat.... it could have been anyone saying those lines, but somehow it was Johnny Depp.

Of course the 1971 version had a lot of gadgets and gizmos that were more imagination than real, but what that original film did was bring that imagination to life.  But this 2005 version, it left nothing to the imagination, nothing to truly believe..... it's a special effects nightmare remake.... ala "Planet of the Apes". 

Obviously, based on the ratings in our database, few if anyone will agree on any of this.  But when you take two incredibly talented actors, like Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore..... adding in Helen Bonham Carter and Christopher Lee..... Tim Burton could have done so much better. 

----------------- Edit:  Considering that special effects is really what Tim Burton does, and not much more than that.... perhaps this is what people expected from the fillm.  Understandably, no one wants to see an exact remake of an older film, so some new twists might have been needed.  The biggest let-down in this film was Johnny Depp, really nothing more than that.  -----------------