Great Depiction of a Favourite Book!

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2005)

As a fan of the original 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' film, I wondered if I could enjoy this remake (especially when I saw the Oompa Loompas sans yellow faces and green hair!). And the childish trailers for the films hardly did it any favours in trying to entice audiences over eight. However, from the moment the film began, I knew that I was onto a winner.
Tim Burton and John August have managed to create a film that brings in the best of the Roald Dahl book without rehashing the novel word-by-word. They are also not afraid to show that the book is not some sickly-sweet fairytale but a dark story of poverty, bratty children and adults who can be rather cruel and malicious when it suits them. It also retains the point that children are often what their parents raise them to be, whether they want to or not (ie, Veruca's parents spoil her so she grows to be a brat, Mike's parents are too soft on him so he rules the roost while Wonka's father deprived him harshly of goodies without explaining he was just trying to do what's best for his son so young Willy rebelled). Perhaps, with that in mind, this might not be a suitable film for very young or sensitive children who are used to a warmer world being depicted on-screen.
While Johnny Depp couldn't quite capture the same maliciousness of Willy Wonka in a way that Gene Wilder was able to capture, his Michael Jackson-esquire performance was still rather creepy and disturbing. Depp also managed to depict a rapport between his character and young Charlie, played wonderfully by Freddie Highmore. There seemed to be a real brotherly relationship between the two (and it was interesting that the role of the big brother was taken by Charlie while the emotionally immature Wonka was cast as the little brother who needed to be taught the value of family over material possessions) that was lacking in the original film where Wonka didn't really connect with Charlie until the final few minutes of the film.
The children in the film are all excellent, especially when one considers most of them are newcomers aged no older than twelve or so. Freddie Highmore was successful in bringing the mix of vulnerability and inner strength to Charlie making the audience truly empathise with the character and cheer him on. However, overall, the prize has to go to Julia Winter, who was perfect as the atrociously spoilt Veruca Salt, and Jordan Fry, who depicted a hideously annoying Mike Teevee.
However, the film was not without its bad points. For one, the songs sang by the Oompa Loompas was inferior compared to the those in the original. Too much was done to 'jazz' them up and they ended up lacking the rhythm of the original songs that left the audience wanting to join in.
But it's the Americanisms of the film that causes it to drop a few points in my mind. Yes, this was a film made by Hollywood but American children will not go into meltdown if the British references of the book were retained. Charlie is an English child yet this film has him referring to 'dollars' (very odd considering he is living in England) and 'vacations' instead of 'holidays'. And is there really a need to have the British characters to refer to the chocolate as 'candy'? It would have been a nicer touch if the American characters used American terms and the British characters used British terms. Instead, the use of Americanisms just left me feeling Hollywood was dumbing down in much the same way 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' was dumbed down in both novel and film version in deference to the American audience. Maybe Hollywood needs to remember that in a country where school pupils as young as eight are made to memorise the name of fifty states and capitals, American children are far more intelligent than they are obviously given credit for by film producers and book publishers.
Having said that, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is an excellent film that I would recommend to everyone from families to more mature cinema-goers. It's story appeals to all age groups without resorting to gooey, nauseating scenes and there is something for fans of the book and original film as well as those who might never have heard of Charlie and Wonka before.