Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I should hate this, being such a fan of the original, but to be honest I really like it. The story has been realised in a lot more of an appropriate way for the modern world. Tim Burton has yet again done a tremendous job of bringing this fantasy world to life. It's eccentric, wonderfully mad, funny and just lovable. It does a better job of bringing the original material to the screen than the original, the only problem I have is with Johnny Depp. I don't have I problem with his acting, I think it's great, I just feel he's been directed to play the role too weirdly. The "tragic madness" of his character doesn't sit too well with me, and I don't think all of the back-story was necessary. Aside from that it is a great film that does stand up to the original.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Based on Roald Dahl's book, Directed by Tim Burton and written by John August. A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker. This movie has a special place in my heart because when I was little this movie was shown in every school vacation. I haven't read or saw the original book or movie. So there will be no comparison between source materials. I'm not sure the character Willy Wonka is the same in the source materials because I heard bad reviews about this version of Willy Wonka. We know every time Tim Burton doing a movie with Johnny Depp he creates his character kinda weird. Once again I'm not familiar with books or the original movie so I am going to tell how I feel about this version of Willy Wonka. Johnny Depp has done a marvelous job in this movie I loved how he acts around children and parents we know he has childhood problems so he is not comfortable with especially with invited children's parents. Freddie Highmore is ok but other child actors are better than him. Charlie Bucket's character is so flat to me. He is not doing anything at all after he entered the factory so not enough character development for his character. The visuals are magnificent the factory is a dreamland. When I first saw the scene of the chocolate river and land it's WoW. The Color combination in the factory is gorgeous. In the factory, the movie mainly focused on punishing children other than that nothing. I liked to see more details about the factory and the process of the factory. Now we are going to get a prequel movie about Willy Wonka and planning to watch the first film also. Finally, I need to say I had a good time with this movie.

I never cease to be amazed by the versatility of Johnny Depp. Whether he is a pirate or writing Peter Pan or an adventurer or a criminal, he never fails to entertain. There is nothing he hasn't done in his 45 films, or will not have done in the five films currently in production or the 15 films in pre-production. Even as the creepy Willy Wonka (Think Michael Jackson for comparison.), he was magnificent. Maybe we have to blame his father (Christopher Lee) for some of that creepiness. After all, depriving your child of Halloween candy is just mean.

But, the real star of this film was Charlie (Freddie Highmore), who was the only sane child that arrived at the factory. He was surrounded by four of the most obnoxious children (and their obnoxious parents) that I have ever seen. They got what they deserved.

The color, imagination, costumes, and sets were magnificent. It was such a pleasure to watch.

Depp comes through again. I am not surprised.

Every bit of it hits you with amazing childhood memories. Watching it as an adult, you get to notice many dirty puns between Willy Wonka and Violet's mother almost explicit lol. The songs by the oompa lumpas are still pretty dull and useless though

If Tim Burton's out there I just want to thank him for bringing the spirit of the book's original illustrations to the screen. He even matched the facial expressions to the drawings, especially in the case of Charlie's family. Charlie himself looks like one of the drawings, and the Bucket house is so much like the illustrations it caused me to realize that Burton is as visual as any movie director can be. (Recent editions feature the work of a different illustrator. I'm talking about the illustrations from the 1960s. The difference between the older illustrations and the newer ones is the older ones feature a lot of cross-hatching. I imagine the older illustrations are still available, especially in a hardcover, but you'll need to search the net.) I don't know how he did it, but he got the facial expressions of Charlie's family and of Mike Teavea's father down perfectly. He also absorbed Dahl's sense of humor. The opening fifteen minutes or so, in which the winners of the golden tickets are announced one by one, really get Roald Dahl's sense of the ridiculous. I think Burton's addition of Wonka's childhood story fits well, although I'll agree that the way this is resolved is not completely in Dahl's spirit. Even in the resolution, however, Burton maintains sly humor. It is well-acted by everybody. I'd like to say that Julia Winter, who plays Veruca Salt, has turned in a truly well-observed comedic performance. Depp converts the novel's jaunty, precise Wonka into a quirky one, but it works well, because, as in the novel, Wonka's endearing traits contrast with the fact that he's a tyrant. Roald Dahl gets a rap for his cynicism, and this movie softens his message a bit. Dahl is a bit like Orwell. Both of them point out that man, given power, will exploit his fellow human beings. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY the movie is not quite as dark as the book. But it comes very, very close.