Likable family entertainment, yet full with major flaws with the screenplay and the acting

Rating: 5/10 (11 June 2013)

Tim Burton's weird adaption of Roald Dahl's novel is a partly hilarious movie that stars a fantastic Johnny Depp as the maverick chocolatier and Freddie Highmore as the eponymous boy who is allowed to pay a visit to the former's mysterious chocolate factory. While the funny, yet not at all musically complex musical numbers are a welcome and amusing gimmick and Depp provides all-ages-entertainment at its best, very little of this movie stays in memory. The production design and the costumes are impressive, but it's the 21st century and a creative director like Mr. Burton could've really made more out of the source material. Furthermore, most of the movie's cast is miserable and extremely overacts their parts. The bad performances are also bred by the utterly silly screenplay that may contain good laughs for pre-school kids, however, is oftentimes boring and really cheaply written. I can't help myself but think that Mr. Burton didn't even utilize half of the potential that the original story has. But besides that, it's a very enjoyable family movie that has truly humorous scenes for both kids and adults.