Burton's bold step toward maturity through his own "style" self affirmation

Rating: 8/10 (7 August 2005)

First of all let me state that to Hollywood's mainstream aesthetics Burton is certainly the most disturbing and utterly wicked artistic approach representative, he is plainly as freaky as it gets and sports such reputation with evident pride.
Although one could easily name at least a handful of directors with a, by far, more edgy film  making style, few have been able to establish a truly own stylistic universe with enough attractive and cohesion to let them forge an artistic career based upon continuous explorations and exposes of such iconoclasm and paraphernalia. Moreover, if anything has contributed Burton into achieving this, it has been both stating and repeating over and over certain themes and tunes (openly dark, ghoulish, with the recurring bitter childhood, Halloween, Christmas, sense of exclusion, awkwardness themes) , the Burtonesque typecasting (one can almost associate actors like Depp, Bonham Carter, Walken, Keaton, De Vito with his most representative work), and the creation of an overall gloomy and depressive mood with the help of Danny Elfman's brilliant scores. Those elements have let Burton create a bizarre "factory" of imagination, art and nightmares, all faithful to his personal and unique sensibility. Now we can easily find this entire ensemble of element within "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory".
The movie itself, since Burton overtook the directorial duties, distanced widely and openly from the first book adaptation (Gene Wilder's "Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory") but wanted to stay faithfully close both to Burton's style and Dahl's Book. And it certainly does with fairly nice results.
This movie has not been marketed as a kid's flick, and it is not just that,we are promptly warned about that, this movie contains adult humor, witty and sometimes sarcastic remarks, deep psychological overtones, a moral (well they could have just skipped this one, but it wouldn't have been completely true to the novel's spirit nor to the unavoidable Hollywood canons), a significantly relevant emotional sub  plot that aware "grown ups" may relate with and a vast gamut that is certain to delight most of the audience for it is a true feast for the senses, however twisted into Burton's own fashion.
A key element and pivotal role is played by Wonka, rather than Charlie, who indeed does a neat job as a bridge between the adult and the kids world, where Willy Wonka seems to be happily lost in opposition to Charlie himself who appears to have the moral schemes of adult people; lots of people have noticed that Depp's portrayal of Wonka may have been a little too freaky and disturbing, so let's get into that aspect.
Johnny Depp masterfully leads us into a world of madness and isolation, where colorful child fixations may have more than one simple meaning as we will discover as the film advances. The nasty, spoiled kid, misanthropist, dark and strikingly silly but lucid way Deep has chosen to characterize Willy Wonka is gonna shock most people and will make them doubt about the true good intentions of such iconography that, with the wardrobe and all just reminds one of a certain Jackson guy who apparently had the same interests and personality traits as the factory owner. One thing is quite obvious, Wonka is, perhaps not consciously, a reference to MJ and that is evident in certain lines and points, rather than in the mannerism and some attitudes by WW; like the "We have so much in common" line , the father issues, and so on. However be not afraid, kinds in general won't notice this and probably only older wicked teens and grown ups will giggle and maliciously laugh at those aspects. It must not be an element that makes you not go to the movie.
Closing this comment I should mention the overall good performances and characterizations, thanks to the effective but not outstanding script, happily supported by a nice cast where both Christopher 'Count' Lee, "Grandpa Joe", "Mike TeeVee" should be recognized alongside Depp (the best here) and "Charlie" (close second); they all offer convincing and engaging acting.
Finally just let me remember you this movie is not supposed to be a creative milestone, nor a character driven powerhouse story, less "Oscar Marketed Material, so go to the cinema with the right expectations and you'll not be disappointed but surprised; it is a movie aimed toward the family segment but would surpass the simple "box office bait" appellative for it is a nice and enjoyable movie with quite some substance underneath. Don't ever forget this one is a Burton film, that is utterly important, otherwise you'll be shocked by some of his nightmare like representations; try to forget the previous film, at least while watching this one, it will help a lot because they are so wildly different that they could be anymore alike. This movie works well on many levels, your kids will enjoy it, teenager will be amused by its witty remarks and sarcasm, grown ups will have plenty of maturity to bestow upon, Burton fans will find plenty of what they look for in his films, novel fans won't be disappointed, previous film fans will rejoice with how different the approach can get to be, gossiping people could chat about MJ references, so there is something for everyone here.
However if you don't like Tim Burtons aesthetics don't go, if you don't have an open mind avoid watching it, you could find it disturbing and controversial for your taste, but just don't miss one of the most, if not the most, interesting "family" films I've seen this year and let this warm, deep, visually stunning, plain fun flick seduce you and take you into the "factory".