It sucked... so bad! Very disappointing. I'm a huge Burton fan and I love Johnny Depp's performances, but this was appalling. I watched the original too many years ago to remember so it's not because it didn't live up to my previous expectations.
First, it attempts to duplicate Edward Scisorhands in so many ways that Burton should have just gone ahead and done a sequel. But even at that it failed, because the story does not support the creepyness of Depp's performance nor the industrial, souless feel of the factory; while in Edward Scisorhands the house is totally plausible and really enhances the magic of the story, Charlie's factory fails miserably in bringing the feel of Charlie's realm to life.
It's also the worst film score I've heard in a long time (something Burton had done beautifully in Batman and Beetle Juice - two of my all time favourites). What the hell was that Oompa Loompa choreography supposed to be? Boring, tiring and tried. Did I mention boring?
There were excellent jokes throughout the film though. But not enough to save it. The parts with the family were really great and well done. A true family feeling (not at all a fake family feeling which is Chris Columbus' mastery). It made me smile and feel happy. But then I had to endure with the other 70% of the film with too fake a scenario and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy elevator in the back of my mind.
Overall, two stars out of five.