CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY : Might Not Be Gene Wilder, But Still Lots Of Fun...

Rating: 7/10 (15 January 2006)

CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
The main thing I admired about this version of Roald Dahl's classic is that it clearly set out to find it's own visual style and overall tone when compared to the classic '72 Gene Wilder version. Tim Burton creates an ambiguously surreal world for young Charlie (Freddie Highmore), the young boy who visits Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory. This skewed reality allows Burton to create captivating visuals in every situation, whether it is in the grand scale candy room and chocolate river... or whether it is the mere visualization of Augustus Gloop's obsessive chocolate intake.
Everything in the film is stylized, and I loved that aspect. Every child has one element that is played up to a much more dramatic extreme in this one versus the original... and it works. The children are honestly the best part of the film. The performances aren't as nuanced or natural as those of the original children... but they are more distinctly defined. These children obviously all went over the top to play to their stereotypes, but they all kept it natural and fluid enough that I never lost interest. This might be the finest ensemble of child actors I have seen in a long while. I loved every one of the kids in this version more so than in the original.
However, some elements Burton seemed to add to differentiate his film, though admirable, just don't managed to be as good as they once were. The oompa-loompas are nothing short of incredibly disappointing. Their songs lack the humor and straightforwardness... lyrics are barely understandable... and there is so much action going on that any element of humor in these songs is impossible to catch. Also, the demise of some of the children is made too grand. Violet turning into a blueberry used to be the simple image of a young girl waddling about, and it was hysterical... here, the computer imagery and confusion with the Oompaloompas is just a bit too much.
The only other major flaw of the film is an incredibly mediocre and disappointing performance from Depp. From the previews I thought his interpretation would make me mad the entire time... it didn't. I bought into his approach and went with it, but I was never won over. Gene Wilder managed to make Willy Wonka the comedic center-point of the film... always holding the audience's attention in the palm of his hand. Depp just kind of blends into the visual spectacle that surrounds him and gets lost. Whenever the film tried to focus on his character (with that insufferable back story with his father... this part just dragged the movie to a screeching halt any time it came up) I was simply wishing for more of the children.
Overall, although their were disappointing moments... on a whole the film had me completely interested. I loved the kids, and thankfully they are the focus of most of the picture. Tim Burton's visuals were beautiful and unique... and the movie constantly supplies it's audience with a fun/harmless/visual treat.
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY will for me be the classic version of the Roald Dahl book forever... however the new CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY deserves it's own viewing, and it's own fan base. It's simple minded fun with enough going on to keep any audience interested. Just don't expect the perfection of the original.
... B- ...
PS - The film gets bonus points for showing what happened to the kids once they left the factory. This was one of my favorite moments.