Saccharine

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2005)

My expectations for this film were low. Although I'm a big Tim Burton fan, this looked far too sweet a confection for me to enjoy. My fillings throbbed anxiously at the prospect of being saturated in sugar saturated colours and maddeningly loud, shouty morals. I had the book read to me as a child and loved it. I've read in adulthood and found it to be wonderfully arch but more of a revenge on the bits of the world he didn't like by Roald Dahl. I've also seen the 1971 version of the story and enjoyed it.
Sweet it was. Loud it was. Colourful it was. My filings did rattle in fear round their cavities however, I enjoyed it immensely. Leaving the cinema I felt like Augustus Gloop covered in chocolate yet finding that he tasted so good. The day was bright afterwards, although considerably less colourful. It's faithful to the book with just enough small diversions to make it relevant to a more modern audience. The glass elevator is faithfully depicted are the squirrels, the inventing room, and the TV room.
Best of all is the chocolate world with its chocolate river. Johnny Depp shines as Willy Wonka, acting like he's in Dr. Seuss inspired nightmare of Michael Jackson after meeting the ghost of Howard Hughes. Not of this world. A twisted individual, tortured by an orthodontically-retentive father, into a sugar-free Oedipal fantasy creature. In the chocolate land, his simultaneous fascination with his land and his disgust at children, their (ssssh) parents, and the rest of world in general is wonderful. The look on his face is pure badly-repressed 'ick'. Freud would have had a field day.
The child actors do well, especially Jordan Fry playing Mike Teevee. I suspect this is the character most modern children will sympathise with. Tim Burton questions Roald Dahl's simple world using him as a mouthpiece, unfortunately he mumbles all these lines. Well Willy Wonka seems to think so anyway. The wonderfully updated chocolate room scene including an awful lot of bits out of '2001: A Space Odyssey' made me laugh out loud to the chagrin of the rest of the audience.
The added bits of backstory for Willy Wonka work well with the surprise appearance of Christopher Lee as his father. Tim Burton's now worked with two of the unholy trinity. It is a pity that Peter Cushing is no longer around for him to complete the set. This film does not debase the wonderful 1971 movie, it compliments it. Very rare for a remake of a much loved film. If you can ignore the sheer sugariness of this film, there's a lot of fun to be had here. Buy an everlasting gobstopper at the concessions stand and go see.