Visually Beautiful and Reasonably Entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 2005)

I recently saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and being kind of grown up, I enjoyed the film. It was a nice breath of fresh air from a lot of the more contemporary action films that are constantly released these days. The movie's plot line follows that of the Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory with some modifications. The sets and visual effects are vintage Tim Burton, gorgeous and beautiful, they take you into another world. While this sort of fantasy like environment was a distraction in Burton's Batman films it fits this movie like a glove. Willy Wonka is an eccentric character portrayed by Johnnie Depp, in this film we get to learn of Willy Wonka's origins which are told through flashbacks. We also get to know a little bit about the Oompa Loompas. The movie moves quicker than the Gene Wilder film that was made in the 70's. Its also a bit more cynical, Willy Wonka is a colder person in this one. The best part of this movie is its sets and visual effects which are gorgeous. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously and was quite entertaining.