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CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (2005) (***)

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All the word about this film centered on the strange performance of Johnny Depp. I liked it and therefore I liked the film. It’s not nearly as good as the original, but it is a thoroughly entertaining re-envisioning of the classic tale.

Charlie (Freddie Highmore, FINDING NEVERLAND) is a good kid (maybe a bit too good). He is part of a loving family. They are poor, but his parents (Helena Bonham Carter, FIGHT CLUB, & Noah Taylor, SHINE) try their best. His Grandpa Joe (David Kelly, WAKING NED DEVINE) has a love for the Wonka Chocolate factory just as much as Charlie does and they get very excited when its announced that Willy Wonka (Depp) will give out five golden tickets allowing five lucky kids and one guardian each to visit the wondrous factory.

In this version of the film, we learn more about Willy Wonka and his motivations. He is a people-phobe who is paranoid of people stealing his ideas. This stems back to his overbearing dentist father (Christopher Lee, THE HORROR OF DRACULA). It’s clear that Willy has contempt for the other kids, which include the gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), the gum-chewing overachiever Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE), the extremely spoiled Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) and the technology obsessed Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry, forthcoming MEET THE ROBINSONS).

In this version we even learn where the Oompa Loompas (Deep Roy, BIG FISH) come from. In a head to head comparison this version has a more layered and developed Willy Wonka, but that does take some of the mystery Gene Wilder brought to the role away. Charlie is too good in this version and is a bit lost once we get inside the factory.

But these differences in no way ruin or drastically hurt the film. The main hindrances to the film are the weak Oompa Loompa songs and a bit of a pacing lag toward the end. However, the film made me care about Charlie and wonder about Willy and the design of the factory was amazing. Tim Burton is first and foremost a master when it comes to visuals. His films never look bad. It’s not a classic like the original, but a worthy retelling of a classic story.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks