Wonderfully Delicious

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2005)

I'm a fan of Tim Burton, a fan of Johnny Depp and a fan of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp together. I'm also a since-I-was-six fan of the classic Willy Wonka movie starring Gene Wilder. I was concerned that, despite the great experiences served up by Burton/Depp collaborations in the past, this one might fall short on sentiment and long on sarcasm growing from twisted trees. I shouldn't have worried.
This film is, as every Tim Burton film is, a visual feast that draws you into a world that seems a combination of the real and unreal. This is a far less sweetly musical telling of the story, but Danny Elfman's music is a perfect fit for Burton's quizzically malevolent vision. Johnny Depp delivers a performance that can only be described as subtle slapstick. His Willy Wonka is equally an eccentric genius and nervous innocent. Burton's direction removes a lot of doubt about Wonka's motivations, and makes it OK for us to love Charlie, both pity and admire Willy, and laugh guiltily at the four despicable brats who get what they richly deserve.
The Oompa-Loompas are not orange, a little wackier, and don't have scary theme music. The interior of the chocolate factory is less fun house and more never-ending stainless fortress. Charlie's family is featured more, and you find yourself wishing you could crowd around that big bed with them. Smaller children (under 7 years old) may be frightened by the puppet show, the boat ride or Veruca's squirrel scene, and unimpressed by some of the more nuanced humor.
The classic is more "pure imagination," this one is more flaming puppets. The classic shows Willie Wonka working in his office, this one shows Willie Wonka discovering the Oompa-Loompas. It's quite unlike the prior film in it's look, tenor and musical treatment, but the overall theme of the good at heart winning out over the good for nothing is the same. It's wonderfully delicious.
>> SPOILER ALERT <<
There's no last temptation of Charlie in this film (he doesn't enter any forbidden rooms), so that means no last minute tongue-lashing from Willie Wonka at the end. Instead, we're taken along on an examination of Willy Wonka's life, and wonder if he will truly shun all notions of family and the outside world forever. This part is all Burton, not Roald Dahl, but is an interesting insight into what might have made Willie Wonka the way he was, and whether the one principal he rejected in order to create his perfect world must be ultimately embraced in order to enlarge it and make it better.