Pure imagination taken to the extremes.

Rating: 5/10 (8 May 2016)

Who else but Johnny Depp could capture the magic of the character of Willy Wonka? Playing the character more childlike then Gene Wilder, he lacks Wilder's sarcastic asides, being more the broken little boy trying to find the list dreams of his childhood . Tim Burton's variation of the Ronald Dahl children's tale is perhaps darker and closer to the original from what I have read, but it is missing some of the innocence and fun of the 1971 musical.
The musical numbers here, with the Willy Wonka theme, are rather annoying after a while. The film is incredibly fun to look at, but the four nasty kids are ten times as obnoxious as the originals, although Veruca Salt is pretty close in brattiness. The Oompa Loompas aren't as mysterious as the original ones, and after a while, they remind me of a few of the ensemble numbers from the original movie version of "The Wiz".
This is obviously more about style than substance, and while the original had some strong moral lessons attached, this one weakly presents one perfect little kid with a feisty grandfather whose past at the Wonka factory is a nice tie between him and his local community. But, there seems to be some filler added, with Christopher Lee added as a Vincent Price cameo and a strange reference to a Buddhist temple made out of 100% milk chocolate that obviously melts in the first heat.
Helena Bonham Carter has little to work with as Charlie's mother. Freddie High more seems too perfect for Charlie, lacking the wide- eyed innocence of Peter Istrum. David Kelly is missing the old vaudeville style spark that made Jack Albertson so brilliant. Depp could charm the almond out of the Hershey's kiss and not melt the chocolate, but some of Tim Burton's work seems to be rushed without regards to the structure. Depp's hairstyle and costuming are a variation of a Bette Davis drag queen (with a Marilyn Monroe voice attached), and at other times, he appeared to be channeling Annie Lennox.
Impressive sets, odd costumes and bizarre make-up and hair styles don't mean bupkus if you ain't got a sensible script. The edible park set was gorgeous, and the boat scene on a giant gummy bear was frightening. Watching Violet turn into a giant berry was fun, as was seeing nasty Veruca being attacked by squirrels. The character of Augustus Glupp is just absolutely disgustingly presented, as is his porker of a house frau. At least in this one, the kids are glimpsed leaving the factory, but it doesn't appear that they are any the wiser. Hopefully, their parents are. It's a decent attempt to modernize the look if the classic style, but all is not creamy and milky in this chocolate bar.