Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - not your typical children's movie

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2005)

As much as I adore Johnny Depp, I went to see this movie with no expectation of him coming anywhere near the dark comedic genius of Gene Wilder. I have never been more pleased to be wrong! He approached the character at the opposite extreme from Mr. Wilder - volumes spoken in his facial expressions compared to Wilder's deadpan, pratfalls to Wilder's reserve, child-imp to Wilder's wise innocence - yet Depp captured every bit of the essence of the character just as Gene did so many years ago. The casting all around was perfect, but the Oompaloompa(s)!!! Rather than just window dressing as in the first, "they" would have stolen the show this time if everyone else hadn't also been so good. And if this wasn't enough, Tim Burton's highly stylized visual effects and all of the movie, musical and television (and political!) references throughout the movie had my daughter and I roaring with laughter during the entire movie. It's been out since Friday here and we've seen it twice... and we caught references we never even saw the first time around. This one is already on my 'must buy' DVD list - but I must warn you - you will either love it for all the reasons above and more, or you will not 'get it' at all. Its one extreme or the other. For me, it was one of the most enjoyable, laugh until my face hurt movies I've seen in years!