What a surprise!!!

Rating: 9/10 (7 August 2005)

Last night, for the second time this summer, I walked into a movie that I was extremely worried about. With Batman Begins and now Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I had a really deep fear that the films would be terrible, yet that the hype was so good that I'd end up saying I liked them. With both movies, I did end up liking them, but because they were genuinely GREAT movies.
With Charlie, there were so many questions. Will it be better than the original? Will it stick to the story since it is, in fact, named after the Roald Dahl book, unlike the original movie? Will Johnny Depp make us all forget about Gene Wilder? As soon as it started, I knew it would be great. Danny Elfman did the soundtrack, and brilliantly so. Whatever the scene called for, be it the orchestral arrangements in the opening few minutes, or the clever new Oompa- Loompa songs, everything fit musically.
All of the members of the Bucket family were enjoyable and well played. Freddie Highmore was perfectly cast as Charlie and had that charisma that made it impossible to root against him. David Kelly was great as Grandpa Joe, and I really enjoyed Grandma Georgina's oddball irrelevance. Noah Taylor and Helena Bonham Carter were well cast as Mr. and Mrs. Bucket. On that note I would like to say I was glad there was actually a Mr. Bucket in this movie. In the original they played with the story a bit and said he had died. They even had his toothpaste- cap-screwer job exactly as it was in the book in this movie. Well done, guys!
The other children gave me mixed reactions. Augustus Gloop was not a hard act to fill. Just a fat boy who eats and eats...and eats. Nevertheless, he was entertaining. I liked the little girl that played Veruca, though I think in retrospect the girl who played her in the original was better. Anna Sophia Robb, as Violet, was my favorite of the brat kids. I did NOT like Mike Teavee at all. For the way the script was written, I guess the kid played the role well. But the problem was with the script. Mike was WAY too intense. (Though I did quite like how Johnny Depp constantly made fun of his 'mumbling')
Ah yes, Johnny Depp and Deep Roy...aka Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas. At first I thought Depp was forcing his role a little, but I grew to like how he was so much quirkier than Gene Wilder had been in the original. For me, part of Willy was how he acted when placed around other people, when he'd alienated himself completely from the outside world. There would be a bit of weirdness in this situation, and Depp pulled it off nicely. Deep Roy was good as the Oompa Loompas. I loved their new songs, but the costumes weren't doing it for me. Plain old orange and white like in the original would have been better if you ask me.
The movie LOOKED spectacular too. That's one of my favorite Tim Burton trademarks - his ability to create totally magical worlds. From the dark, odd environments of Nightmare Before Christmas to Big Fish and now Charlie, scenery is where his true talent lies. The Chocolate Room exemplifies this perfectly. When that door opens and the kids walk in, how can you not think to yourself 'Tim, you da man!'?
They stayed true to the story, Johnny Depp was outstanding, and this movie was way better than the original. What more do you need?