Magic, Mayhem, and Madness

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2005)

There are very few truly delicious films in the world. I could only name perhaps one or two off of the top of my head. After watching this film, however, I added another title to my mental list. Maybe I'm biased, being a Depp/Burton/Elfman fan through and through (if they remade Piglet's BIG Adventure I'd watch it), but I adored the whole of it.
As we must, at some point, address the ever-present issue of 1971 version vs. modern, I'll get this over with as quickly as possible. Gene Wilder is a great actor. He's practically as much a magician with film as Wonka is with chocolate, and I adored his performance. His version is the one the whole family sits around to watch now and then, smiling happily at their antics. Then came Depp. One cannot compare Wilder to Depp-- apples and oranges, my friends. Where Gene's Wonka fills you with a sort of cotton candy feeling, Johnny reaches a little deeper into your gut to tickle some darker, less frequently-amused beast. He manages to convey childish glee one moment and, with a twirl of his cane and quirk of his lips, make some dark, sick part of you grin wickedly.
In this new version of the classic children's tale, we open with a sequence so purely Burton in its beauty that "Edward Scissorhands" flashbacks flow in unbidden. The golden tickets are placed delicately on the bars, accompanied (of course) by the haunting chords of Danny Elfman's musical genius. The vastness of the factory's strangeness is placed just below our noses. We know something odd is happening, but as yet we do not know what.
It is quickly established that Charlie Bucket is the character we will be following, and that you couldn't ask for a kinder, more pure-hearted boy. The child is a babysitter's dream: well-behaved, polite, loving, charming, and surrounded by a feeling of deep-down goodness. Poor, but hopeful; clever, but innocent.
We're taken on a quick recap of Grandpa Joe's years working under the legendary Willy Wonka, which contains a well-placed "Scissorhands" reference. Throughout this, not once do you see his face entirely unveiled, but his genius is evident. The factory opens, then closes.
"I am closing the factory forever. I'm sorry." But, as Mrs. Bucket explains, forever can sometimes simply mean "a very long time". The factory reopens, the candy is pumped out by the pound, shops everywhere are filled once more with delectable sweets made by the now-legendary Willy Wonka himself. Despite this, no one has seen him in years. No one ever goes into the factory, and no one ever comes out.
When five golden tickets, each allowing the holder a tour of the chocolate factory, are announced to be hidden beneath the wrappers of five Wonka bars, madness breaks loose. Everyone wants one. During the pandemonium, our questionable quartet of horrendous children are introduced. We are quickly made to understand that whatever horrors await them, they're well-deserved.
Charlie finds the fifth golden ticket, and finally, the fun is ready to begin.
As the five lucky children and their chosen adult companions step through the gate, tension begins to build. They move slowly toward the doors, the doors open, there is an intake of breath in the seats around you, and... we begin to twitch convulsively at the unstoppable flow of It's a Small World memories.
The show quickly explodes before the five guests, breaking down rapidly into a mess of melting plastic eyeballs. You may want to cover the eyes of small children at this point. And then, finally, Wonka himself appears.
Within thirty seconds, we have the distinct impression he desperately wants to cut out the children's tongues. From there on in, there is a wild romp of crime and punishment. Wonka keeps up a quirky commentary throughout, even going so far as to give small, sadistic smiles whenever one of the nasty little beasts is swallowed by the factory. The new Oompa Loompas (there's been much talk about them, I know) are charming and witty, with rather somber faces (all the same one, actually).
In "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", it was Charlie who learned a valuable life-lesson at the hands of Willy Wonka. In this newer rendition, Charlie must guide the eccentric man to realize the value of family.
I, for one, left the theater feeling fulfilled and warm, with the strangest craving for truffles.