10 chocolate bars out of 10 - a superb vision of Wonka World

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2005)

Just go see the movie - the visual presentation cannot be put into words here.
Johnny Depp is brilliant as Wonka Christopher Lee is Superb as his father Helena Bohnam Carter - delicious as Charlie's mother Liz Smith as Grandma is sheer laughter (I like grapes) Charlie - the boy, the actor - such a wonderful child - you can see it in his eyes when he opens the golden ticket and then shows it to his family - pure magic.
Charlie's decision in the movie to not accept Wonka's offer because he cant' take his family with him is gorgeous to watch. A child growing up in poverty would never leave a family like that behind, he knew that they were his world, and to leave them for a life of loneliness is a life that would be lost.
Overall - a perfect version of the classic book. Not to compete with the original, but to go to levels that the original movie would not have been able to do given the time it was made and the technology behind it back then.
The scene stealing squirrels are fantastic. The only part I missed was the "fuzzy lifting drink" from the first movie, but in the end, it wasn't needed here, it would not have made sense with the purity of a child's love of family that is Charlie Bucket!