Amazing. Simply amazing.

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2005)

Roald Dahl was an off-beat writer of children's books. His stories are often dark, a bit wacky and always full of surprises. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is certainly one of these. I loved Gene Wilder's earlier version but appreciated more for Wilder's performance than for the somewhat "softer" texture that they had given the story. Gone was the darkness and the gloom of Charlie's life into the bright sparkling world of Willy Wonka.
Here, Burton, the master of the dark, brings all of the obscure and gray shades of Dahl's work to the screen with an amazing, simply amazing panorama of visual images, colors and thumpy tunes. The cloning of the images of Deep Roy is delightful and adds greatly to the fun of the story. But, the cast really makes it work. Who could play Charlie with that serious waif-look but young Master Freddie Highmore who was so splendid in Neverland, and who else could be Grandpa but veteran character actor David Kelley who delighted us all with his motorcycle ride in the buff in Waking Ned Devine? Then, there's the back-up crew with more character actors like Noah Taylor, James Fox and the wonderful Helen Bonham Carter.
Then, there's Depp. Yes, I would agree with some of the critics, Depp does "reach" at times but, hey: read the book. Depp IS Willy Wonka. He adds all the darkness and shadow to the mysterious chocolates. He keeps his goofiness restrained (something Wilder struggled with) and delivers his lines with a stainless steel glitter. Personally, I think Depp is becoming one of our finest actors and this role certainly adds to it.
I loved it. My wife loved it. The kids in the theater loved it. Go see it and judge for yourself.