A fun summer movie with enough humor to keep viewers of all ages entertained.

Rating: 7/10 (17 July 2005)

It probably bears mentioning at the onset that this latest creation by director Tim Burton (of Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas fame) is not a remake of the 1971 movie, but rather a fresh reinterpretation of children's author Roald Dahl's original book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
I've only seen parts of the older movie years ago, but from what I've heard, Burton's take is somewhat darker and more bizarre. If so, it's not necessarily a bad thing; after all, Dahl was known for writing about nasty things happening to children in all his stories. That said, I enjoyed Burton's style of visual design, which made for plentiful eye-candy (no pun intended maybe) from start to finish.
The movie started off strongly with a fantastic score by Danny Elfman to accompany its title sequence. In fact, I wish we could have heard more of that one particular part of the score throughout - an energizing composition of broad orchestral instrumentation coupled with mechanical effects that so perfectly encapsulated the mystery, mayhem, and mischief of the factory.
In contrast, I wasn't terribly fond of the Oompa-Loompas' musical numbers or their costume design. Give us quirky characters dressed in their native garb from the book, please, not clones in skin-tight plastic suits!
Actors Johnny Depp and Freddy Highmore, who were last seen in Finding Neverland, team up once more to form a believable rapport on screen. Depp, true to his character acting form, is reported to have modeled his interpretation of Willy Wonka after part mad-genius inventor Howard Hughes and part shock-rocker Marilyn Manson. Highmore performed admirably, with some of his best moments in the beginning portion of the movie.
For some reason, they decided to shift the lead character focus from Highmore to Depp halfway through, loading poor Mr. Wonka with some unexpected emotional baggage. I can't decide whether I liked the change they made to the ending or not. Still, at least the movie was amusingly self-deprecating about it: "Sorry, I was having a flashback." / "Does that happen often?" / "Increasingly so, today."
While I sat for close to two hours with a grin on my face, I couldn't help but feel that something was missing or empty about it all. In part, it was because a linear storyline made the watching experience an exercise of counting up to five and then back down to one, but Burton and company are not to blame for it, as they stayed very true to Dahl's original tale. Moreso, any deviations they did make were for the purpose of attempting to add more depth to the story.