Burton pulls it off!

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2005)

8.3/10 When i saw the trailer for this film i thought it would be a terrible copy designed to get money with a popular name. I was wrong. Tim Burton does an amazing job with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Lets start with the acting. At first i thought Depp was a bad choice but he gives us a superb and different portrayal of Willy Wonka. I hate his haircut though. Freddie Highmore as Charlie was also excellent and he fit his role well. David Kelly as Grandpa Joe was pretty good but not excellent. Helena Carter and Noah Taylor also did a good job. Annasophia Robb, Julia Winter, Jordan Fry and Phillip Wiegratz all fit their roles perfectly as the bratty children and were very convincing. John August's screenplay was almost perfect. I liked the part about Wonka's childhood with Christopher Lee. Some of Wonka's lines were bad but overall the screenplay was funny and refreshing. My biggest problem with this movie was Danny Elfman's terrible oompa loompa songs. They are nothing like the catchy tunes from the original movie. Usually i like Elfman though. The cinematography of Rousselot shows the wondrous factory and Charlies poor family's house. Tim Burton has made an excellent movie out of otherwise used material. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie even though many reviews criticized it.