'Charlie and Cholocate Factory' a lusciously imagined, feast for the imagination

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2005)

Director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (JOHNNY DEPP) and Charlie Bucket (FREDDIE HIGHMORE), a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka's extraordinary factory.
Most nights in the Bucket home, dinner is a watered-down bowl of cabbage soup, which young Charlie gladly shares with his mother and father and both pairs of grandparents. Theirs is a tiny, tumbledown, drafty old house but it is filled with love. Every night, the last thing Charlie sees from his window is the great factory, and he drifts off to sleep dreaming about what might be inside.
For nearly fifteen years, no one has seen a single worker going in or coming out of the factory, or caught a glimpse of Willy Wonka himself, yet, mysteriously, great quantities of chocolate are still being made and shipped to shops all over the world.
One day Willy Wonka makes an announcement. He will open his famous factory and reveal "all of its secrets and magic" to five lucky children who find golden tickets hidden inside five randomly selected Wonka chocolate bars. Of course, Charlie finds one of the tickets, and the surprises awaiting him within the factory give Charlie a certain glow inside.
Tim Burton has done it again.
This 'Charlie' is a considerable improvement on the film it remakes, 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. Tim Burton's imagination gives the film a splashy look to it anf filling it with remarkable sights. Actor Johnny Depp is fantastic as offbeat and eccentric kid-at-heart Willy Wonka. Freddie Highmore gives a magical performance as the generous, curious Charlie, the poor boy eager to win a trip into Willy Wonka's factory.
The remarkable thing about this 'Factory' is how visually stunning it is. Tim Burton lusciously imagined the film, and it's a feast for the eyes... and the imagination. Screenwriter John August fills the film with a subverse sense of humor and wit, and creates a number of hilarious characters. Overall: A Fantastic Effort.
4 from 4 PG: quirky situations, brief language and some mild action.