weak remake with bad jokes, awkward moments and only the occasional highlight

Rating: 4/10 (10 August 2005)

SPOILERS Tim Burton has a remarkably inconsistent record. When his films are good, they are often amazing ('Nightmare Before Christmas', 'Beetlejuice', 'Batman'), but when they are bad, people go out looking for blood (the abomination 'Planet of the Apes'). In 2005 therefore there is an element of trepidation about this remake of the Roald Dahl classic. Casting regular star and current Hollywood golden boy Johnny Depp as Wonka, Burton takes multiple gambles as he retells the story like only he can. Sadly though, just like his 'reimagining' of 'Planet of the Apes', Burton's Wonka tale is an awkward affair with little going for it and only the briefest of inspirational moments.
Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) lives with his parents (Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor) and four grandparents in a run down house with cabbage soup on the menu daily. Receiving a chocolate bar every year for his birthday, Charlie is hopeful for the future at the news that the eccentric Willy Wonka (Depp) is inviting five children into his chocolate factory for a guided tour. With one chocolate bar and insurmountable odds of success, can a miracle truly happen for the young Bucket? This is Roald Dahl, of course it can! Right from the outset, the film sets out where it means to go on with a chocolate based opening credits. Taking us to Tim Burton's world, everything about the environment is pure Burton style. The Bucket house is almost straight out of 'Big Fish' and the clothes of everyone involved are predominately 'The Nightmare before Christmas'. The general outlook of the film is one of abstract weird and to be honest, it does look beautiful.
Unfortunately however, once you look beneath the surface of the film, a different story emerges. There's no denying that what Burton has created here is magnificent in appearance, and with subtle directions he does create some memorable moments (Wonka randomly discarding a business card the second he receives it for example). The problem we have though is that the script just isn't up to much.
In this adaption of Dahl's story, there are just far too many weak moments. Whether it's the overplayed poverty of the Bucket family or the tormented past of Wonka, just too many bits feel forced. The jokes are often awkward and unfunny, the feel just doesn't click, and all too often Johnny Depp's Wonka is written and played as if he is the twin of a recently 'innocent' pop-star.
One part of the story which is particularly infuriating is the back history of Willy Wonka. An interesting take on the notion, this story, presented in flashback form (leading to Depp looking memorably into nothingness and thus encouraging you to see him as weird) tells of Wonka's past differences with his dentist father (Christopher Lee). This notion and the general all round feel, could have been handled so well and really added to this film, but the script is so haphazard and awkward that you really don't care about this dysfunctional family and you just want to get back to the present day.
Perhaps the worst part about this modern adaptation is the way Burton, writer John August and composer Danny Elfman have teamed together to destroy the Oompa Loompas. Whilst the racial undertones of having them as the vertically challenged orange men again are obvious, surely a better solution could have been found rather than what we have here. Giving us Deep Roy multiple times as every single member of this tiny species, the film's main musical focal point is destroyed when we are given inconsistent, toneless and often irritating songs for each of the children. Johnny Depp's Wonka moves from side to side in beat with the music, almost as if trying to encourage the audience into thinking these songs are actually good, but all he does succeed in doing is convincing us that the creators are arrogant in their own product. The songs are dreadful, these new Oompa Loompas are dreadful, and all too often, the film itself is dreadful.
Almost as if to soften the blow, let's scrape the barrel and attempt to come up with some positives from this adaptation. Well for starters there is the already mentioned business card moment. There's also the brilliant '2001: A Space Odyssey' tribute in which the black rectangle is replaced with a Wonka bar. There's also the typical Burton black setting and layout. This final point in itself demonstrates the exact problem with this film. Beautifully shot and feeling at times like a 90 minute long chocolate advert, the film does look good. Like so many films nowadays however, once you strip away Burton's beautiful superficial layer, there is nothing underneath. We have an incredibly shallow and pointless film, and surely Roald Dahl deserves more.
One of the greatest children's writers of all time, Roald Dahl was a legend. With films about his books being made all the time, the idea of a Tim Burton style version surely appealed. It's a shame therefore that whilst Burton's work IS beautiful to watch, the screenplay of John August is awful. Overplaying multiple different angles and attempting to give Wonka a feeble history, August's work is severely lacking. Not for the first time, a Hollywood remake is a vastly inferior alternative compared with an original. Stick to Gene Wilder's 1971 version and feel sorry for everyone involved with this farce.