'A bad nut.....'

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2010)

Willy Wonka promotes a tour through his chocolate factory, the greatest in the world, through five golden tickets hidden in the bars of chocolate.
Charlie Bucket finds one, for the pride and joy of his very supportive family, and he spends the day in a mysterious competition for an unknown award with other boys and girls..
After Burtons last remake/re-imagining (the monkey one with Marky Mark), i was very worried about this choice of movie. The original was a phenomenon, with probably one of Wilders most remembered roles.
I knew was Depp was going to be in it, and that all the other Burton trademarks would be present, but still, i had my doubts.
How wrong i was. Not only in my opinion does it exceed the original, but we are treated to the back-story of Wonka, which makes him more human in this version, rather than a mystical being in the original.
Depp is shockingly brilliant as the candy maker, and has a little bit of darkness to him. We rarely see him concerned about the welfare of the children when they become at risk, but obviously that is the whole point of the film.
Burton really digs deep with connotations of the seven deadly sins, and all of the main characters (Wonka, and the children) resemble one of the sins, if you can read between the lines.
But don't do that on your first viewing, enjoy the colourful sets and wonderful performances from all involved. It's much easier to watch than the original, and the dark to light contrast in narrative flows easy in the film.
A brilliant remake, well worth catching.