This movie melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2005)

I like chocolate. I like Tim Burton movies. I like the original Roald Dahl book (and its sequel). I even liked "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," but not as much as a lot of others - though still more than Dahl did (he loathed it as much as he liked chocolate). And I like Danny Elfman. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," therefore, is a treat for fans of all of the above.
Burton and screenwriter John August improve not only on their own "Big Fish" but also on the previous movie in a number of ways, and not only in terms of effects (with a gap of 34 years it stands to reason that Violet Beauregarde's transformation into a blueberry would beat the original, helped by Annasophia Robb's excellent turn as a superhumanly self-confident little gum-chewer). The movie's addition of a backstory for chocolatier par excellence Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp, turning into another marvellous turn for the master) - like "Sleepy Hollow," he's given a less than happy young life, though at least his dentist dad Christopher Lee doesn't kill his mum with an iron maiden - can seem like an unnecessary addition which weighs the story down and serves as an excuse for a happy family ending (which is a bit strange, given that Dahl's book had one anyway), but it doesn't really harm the finished result, and in fairness you can understand the desire to give Wonka something to do. Something apart from be the unquestioned star of the movie, that is.
Wonka's edge is less prominent here than in Gene "I was the best Wonka, dammit" Wilder's performance, but it's here all the same; and if the movie does stack the odds in favour of Charlie Bucket (and that's putting it mildly), so did the book. In any case, Freddie Highmore is so appealing as Charlie that you're rooting for him anyway, and the other child actors are fine as well for the most (oddly, the girls do better than the boys overall - I believe this is called "Friends Stars In Movies Syndrome").
The movie is as much a treat for the eyes as the heart, with the chocolate factory seeming like the greatest theme park there ever was and some of the best effects work in a Burton movie (kudos to Cinesite and the Magic Camera Company); Elfman contributes one of his tenderest works for Burton to date, and his songs for the Oompa-Loompas (with Dahl's lyrics from the book) are all without exception highlights.
At the risk of sounding like one of those film critics whose quotes have "A+" and exclamation marks a go-go, I can't really deliver a measured examination of this movie - just go and see it. In spite of its pro-chocolate agenda, it's better for kids than "Madagascar" and its ilk. And it won't make you feel sick afterwards if you're diabetic. (Believe me, I know.)