Burton & Dahl: A marriage made in heaven

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2006)

I didn't exactly know what to expect going into this movie, except for the fact that it would surely feature Tim Burton's distinctive visionary directing skills and also that I knew for sure Johnny Depp wouldn't let me down (since he has never done that before). And, as to be expected, I got all that, but also a whole lot more out of this movie. Of course I knew the story already and I had seen fragments of the 1971-version with Gene Wilder when I was a very little kid. But this fantastic candy-trip into chocolate wonderland succeeded all the expectations I might have had.
I'll just keep this short and sweet, because I don't think I can add anything that hasn't been written before. Here are some things that managed to surprise me in an utmost positive way. For one thing: Danny Elfman's score. Now, calling me not a big fan of musicals would be something like the understatement of the year. But here the songs didn't annoy me at all. In fact, they were great. Elfman and Burton went all pretty nuts on this one using a lot of different musical genres. My favorite song must have been the one in the "Invention Room"-scene. The style of the song features characteristics of Blaxploitation themes, P-funk and even some of that rocky funkiness The Red Hot Chili Peppers used to have. The other songs are very different in tone, and they only come up whenever a child meets its 'demise'. So the fact that there are only 4 songs in the movie, also helped to appreciate them a little more.
Another thing that amazed me was how great the acting performances from the 5 kids were (something I wasn't too impressed with in the first HARRY POTTER-movie, for example). Especially Freddie Highmore (Charlie), Julia Winter (Veruca) and AnnaSophia Robb (Violet) were amazing. No doubt about it that a successful acting career lies ahead for those kids. Johnny Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka was simply delicious and the whole cast for that matter was excellent. I didn't mind some of the side characters weren't fully drawn out, because to me this movie is about the 5 kids and Willy Wonka (& his Factory). I also liked the side-plot about Wonka's childhood and the relationship with his father (portrayed by Christopher Lee). It sort of drew the whole movie a bit more open and made Johnny Depp's character more human (because all the scenes inside the Factory made him extremely surreal, which I liked of course, but still...). The things writer John August & Tim Burton added to the screenplay seemed to stay really true to the spirit of Roald Dahl's original story. Dark & twisted, yet friendly & humorous.
And then, of course, the set-design & set-pieces were amazing. It simply is every director's dream to work with a crew that talented. CGI was put to good use (sometimes you couldn't even tell what was there on the set and what was created with the computer). The "Squirrel"-scene was highly memorable (using real trained squirrels, puppetry & CGI, which all blended together fabulously). And the ending was satisfying too. A little detail I liked was the way some kids came out of (or survived) the Factory at the end. It reminds you once again that this is a Tim Burton-movie and not a Disney-flick. I was contemplating giving this movie 9/10 (I don't even know why really, since nothing in the movie annoyed me, and it seemed completely flawless to me), but then I saw the second DVD with the extras (it contains a little documentary about the life of Roald Dahl, some very interesting 'making of'-features and some funny & silly games you can play with your remote control). And because of all that, I generously donate that extra point that will make this movie a Burton-masterpiece.