Possibly as much a masterpiece for the director as it was for the author

Rating: 9/10 (5 August 2011)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was my favourite book as a kid. I read all of Roald Dahl's books until they fell apart but Charlie was my fave. The 'original' movie with Gene Wilder was an absolute travesty. I'm sure it seems like a cool film if you know nothing about the book, but as an adaptation of a classic, it omitted every bit of dark humour and the child's glimpse of the adult world that was Dahl's trademark. It isn't a cinema adaptation of the book, more a complete revamp for a Disney type audience. This Burton film, in my view, is a near perfect film imagining of the Dahl novel. Long overdue, it captures the essence of Dahl even better than the excellent James and the Giant Peach animated movie. Not only that, it is easily the best Burton film since Ed Wood, maybe even Edward Scissorhands, and places him back on the top of the list of Hollywood auteurs (to misuse a term). Dahl fans, Burton fans, rejoice! Fans of the Gene Wilder film, stay away.