Burton cooks up a winner

Rating: 7/10 (16 July 2005)

I was never doubtful of Burton's capability to pull together this movie. The book's satirical and playful twistedness fits right into Burton's M.O. It is quite evident that Burton had a vision is his mind for this film and for the most part he delivers a fun and satisfying film that serves for great escapism, even though we have seen most of the content before in the original.
While we've heard the story before and know exactly what happens to each character, it is still fun to get a tour of Wonka's factory through Burton's vision. The set crew has crafted some visually astounding sets from the Bucket's home to the colorful factory. Scenes that we will recall from the original, such as the boat ride, are more fun and exciting to watch. The original was very solemn, but here things are pretty fast paced.
With the exception of Depp playing Wonka, all the actors/actresses are duplicating the roles of the characters in the original. Each child plays up their signature bad character trait and Freddie Highmore is perfect as Charlie. Helena Bonham Carter is always a delight in Burton's films and does well here as Charlie's mother. It is Depp's performance that is significantly different from his counterpart. I consider Depp to be one of the best character actors in Hollywood at this time. He adapts well and commits to his characters. However, I found his Wonka at times a bit off. Depp opted to go for the same sarcastic oddity we found with Wilder's Wonka, but he also decided to be more childish and "punky" for a lack of better terms. His character is humorous for a bit, but the act gets old after a while. Nevertheless, it by no means ruins the movie and some people will probably really like the character.
Thankfully, the lamentful singing is replaced by the eccentric Oompa Loompa musical numbers. Each number is different and completely funny to watch.
Lastly, what is also fun about this film is that you can see glimpses of Burton's other films on display here. The opening credits, which consist of a tour through Wonka's odd chocolate bar assembly line reminded me a lot of the cookie maker machine in EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. Also, the Bucket's house looks like it was directly lifted out of BIG FISH with its odd slant. Just a few things Burton added in to bring together his style.
In the end, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY's plot is reused from the original, but what else did you expect. A few things have been changed to follow more closely to the book. While Depp's performance is somewhat off, it certainly is not disastrous to the film in any way. The film is fun, colorful and entertaining. I give it a 7/10.