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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
(Warner Brothers: 2005)
Don't let the previews fool you. All of the clips and teaser trailers portrayed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
as an off-the-wall, nonsensical film; but there's actually more to Tim Burton's latest loopy Hollywood offering than what
the trailers have given us.
Please don’t misunderstand me. This movie is really, really weird. I mean, c'mon, it's a Tim Burton movie,
for crying out loud! The movie most certainly misses the charm of Mel Stuart and Gene Wilder’s
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory from 1971. However, I was very surprised that, beyond the zany,
almost unsettling surface of the film, the movie was also packaged with great performances, stunning artistic creativity,
and a very large helping of genuine humor.
The story opens with Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), a young boy who lives in a broken-down shack with his
impoverished but loving family. The unselfish Charlie has only one wish in life, and that is to meet the mysterious
candymaker known as Willie Wonka (Johnny Depp).
Willy Wonka is an enigma who, fifteen years prior, had fired all of his workers and closed his factory to the public,
somehow continuing to produce massive amounts of candy without their assistance. But suddenly, Wonka has decided to open
his factory to five lucky children who can find a golden ticket hidden underneath the wrapper of a Wonka candy bar.
Charlie, of course, is one of the five children to find a golden ticket. The other four children include a glutton
(Philip Wiegratz), an overly-competitive perfectionist (Annasophia Robb), a greedy snob (Julia Winter), and a
television-addicted brat (Jordan Fry). On the prescribed day, these five kids, each accompanied by a single guardian,
get to venture through the massive gates of the Wonka factory, promised a tour of its inner-workings.
Up until this point, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has all the earmarks of a timeless film.
Director Tim Burton and cinematographer Philippe Rousselot produce a fairytale-like atmosphere that perfectly
realizes Burton’s creative genius. Freddie Highmore offers a fantastic performance as Charlie Bucket.
And Charlie’s four grandparents, all bedridden in the ramshackle Bucket home, are the source of a number of genuinely
funny jokes and one-liners, all which contribute to a surprisingly silly and lighthearted opening.
But once the gates of the factory open and Willy Wonka reveals himself to his guests, the inexplicable wackiness
of the movie trailers is instantly brought to memory. Johnny Depp’s marvelous, yet twisted performance as Willy Wonka
is more than just a collaboration of the warped minds of Burton and Depp. Wonka is a deeply disturbed individual,
if not a deeply disturbing individual. Move over, Gene Wilder. Michael Jackson has invaded the factory.
Though the humor doesn’t stop at this point, nor does it stop until the credits roll, it’s from this point that the silly
lightheartedness of the first act turns into a sort of marvelous insanity that permeates the remainder of the film.
Rather than taking on the storybook qualities of Charlie’s home town, Wonka’s chocolate factory takes on the qualities
of a few very clever amusement park attractions. One can only expect that remnants of the chocolate factory will soon
appear at a Six Flags theme park near you.
This wonderfully-imagined factory is the home to a series of mishaps and a number of odd, dwarfed creatures known
as the Oompa Loompas, all intent on teaching moral lessons to the four bratty kids.
Any preconceived notions held from the 1971 film will be immediately tossed away once the first Oompa Loompa
appears on the screen. The wisdom and wonder of the orange Oompa Loompas from the original movie gives way to a
group of silly jungle creatures, all played in unison by Deep Roy. As in the 1971 film, the Oompa Loompas still
sing songs to underline the moral values stressed throughout the film, but these new songs, which take on a wide
range of modern musical genres, are unbearably uninspired and irritating, unlike the catchy tunes of the first film.
Regardless, by the end of the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has succeeded in keeping us entertained.
Moreover, Tim Burton has proven to us that he really can helm a decent remake, even after the disaster that was
Planet of the Apes. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory lacks some of the warmth and depth of the 1971 film,
but it fills some of those empty gaps with a great amount of comedy. Personally, I laughed so hard, I almost cried.
Thanks, Tim Burton, I needed that.
Score:
(4 Hershey Kisses out of 5)
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Release Date: 07/15/05
Profanity: Mild
