Burton's trip to a candy-coated paradise is a wonderful excursion.

Rating: 8/10 (13 September 2008)

My Take: Colorful visuals and elaborate storytelling.
Tim Burton proved that his talents can go beyond what is expected from him in his previous effort BIG FISH, which incidentally also has something in kin with Roald Dahl, who wrote the story which this film is based upon. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is less a remake of the 1970 classic of the nearly-same name (simply change the title from "Charlie" to "Willy Wonka") as it is more an adaptation of the book itself, of which many hail as more faithful adaptation than the original classic. Though I have not read the Dahl book, I say this CHARLIE is a great adaptation simply since the imagination, the blissfulness, the sweetness and the overall goodness of it all are there.
Burton is perfect for attaching the darker elements of Dahl's tale, but mostly he's in light mode. The movie is more cheery and dark, which is appropriate. There are some flaws rising when the film gets too sweet at a few moments, with Charlie (played by Freddie Highmore) getting a little preachy and too chewy for the sweet tooth. But, flawed as it might, CHARLIE is a lot of fun, and in yet another season of excessive potboilers, this one stands out as an imaginative and simply entertaining achievement. There's more than enough family entertainment value to provide treats for audiences here.
The movie keeps deep faith to its source with practically the same story: Eccentric candy-maker Willy Wonka (another winning performance from Johnny Depp) randomly placed 5 golden tickets inside the wrappers of 5 lucky Wonka Bars. Any lucky kid who gets either of them will receive a much-pleasant reward: a trip through Wonka's never-before-seen candy factory, with a secret price at the end. Besides the lucky Charlie and his grandfather (David Kelly), there's also the competent and overly challenging Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb), the spoiled rich girl Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), the candy-mongering glutton Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz) and the TV-addicted Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), accompanied by their parent/guardian.
The world inside the factory is one blissful and exuberant creation. It bursts with life and color as we bedazzle at a chocolate-coated river, a candy-molded boat, workaholic squirrels in a nut-cracking room, an elevator that goes down/up/side/etc and the always present Oompa-Lumpas (as played by a duplicated Deep Roy). As the original story goes, the kids get into a lot of sticky situations, either due to their ignorance or over-confidence. But other than that, we also get to know the man behind the candy himself. Thanks to a couple of random but endearing flashbacks, we get to know Willy Wonka much more. There's also a lot of getting-to-know with Willy's creepy dentist father (as played by always creepy Christopher Lee). Then there's Charlie's family, a poverty-suffered member of society who manages to live life the way it should: a perfect depiction of a perfect family.
Visuals delight as morals abound, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is perfect family entertainment. A harmless yet exhilarating adventure where everyone in the family, young and old, would cheer. This is, any every sense of the word, wonderful eye-candy.
Rating: **** out of 5.