Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Ray's Review

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
115 min

Directed by:
Tim Burton

Based on the book by:
Roald Dahl

Screenplay by:
John August (Big Fish)

Starring:
Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka
Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket
David Kelly as Grandpa Joe
Deep Roy as Oompa Loompa
Christopher Lee as Dr. Wonka

Official Plot Synopsis:

"Acclaimed director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) and Charlie (Freddie Highmore), a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka’s extraordinary factory. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka launches a worldwide contest to select an heir to his candy empire. Five lucky children, including Charlie, draw golden tickets from Wonka chocolate bars and win a guided tour of the legendary candy-making facility that no outsider has seen in 15 years. Dazzled by one amazing sight after another, Charlie is drawn into Wonka’s fantastic world in this astonishing and enduring story."

Ray's Opinion:

This is one of those films that is nearly impossible for me to accurately review, I have such a love of the original film - as it was one of the most watched films of my childhood - that it was a bizarre experience watching the new version. Wonka is different, there's a few additional scenes and it's more faithful to the book, yet I couldn't shake the weird sense of deja vu I had throughout. I've seen this film already... about 30 times!

Firstly let's get Depp's Wonka out of the way. I am a huge Gene Wilder fan and had grave fears about what Depp's interpretation would be - Depp has the capacity to be completely over the top and ruin a film for me, which he did in Sleepy Hollow. Horrible descriptive words such as 'zany' and 'whacky' entered my mind, but thankfully Depp is great as Wonka and is different enough to Gene Wilder that comparisons are pointless - Gene Wilder's Wonka was undeniably strange, but you knew he had a good heart, where as Depp's Wonka is totally insane. I loved Depp's take on it and in retrospect, it's a good thing his Wonka was so different because everything else was so familiar. Apparently Depp based his interpretation of Wonka on gameshow hosts, mixed with a large helping of social ineptitude - not on Michael Jackson as many people would assume. Personally I liked the fact that he reminded me of Jackson, I thought it added a really bizarre streak to it.

If you've seen the original there will be very few surprises in store for you, it really is the same old scenes from a new director's perspective - a director with a unique and interesting perspective... but they're still essentially the same scenes. In a funny way, the new version felt like a companion piece to the 1971 version, expanding on things I'd wondered about (such as Wonka's past and where the Oompa Loompas came from). Some of the new scenes are from the book and had simply been altered or omitted from the 1971 version (such as the Nut Room now in place of the Golden Geese room), while other scenes are entirely new (like Wonka's flashbacks, detailing his relationship with his father, played by the enigmatic Christopher Lee). I loved the new scenes about Wonka's past, but found most the other new scenes made little difference overall.

The screenplay by John August (who wrote 'Big Fish', and the just released 'Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride') is better than the original. It's leaner and gets us into the factory faster, which is a good thing for kids as the lead-up in the 1971 version was protracted and full of strange adult bits that are sort of cool, but completely dull for the wee ones - my five year old sister was watching the Gene Wilder one recently and during the lead-up she turned and said "I'm bored", I skipped forward to the factory and she was absorbed from then on. Thankfully the new screenplay hasn't pandered to today's youth, and has avoided the pointless insertion of hip references to modern culture - which so often happens nowadays in children's films (such as Shrek 2).

The roles are all fairly well cast. I thought the 'child star' who played Charlie was merely average and his grandad lacked the warmth of the 1971 version (whoops, there I go comparing them again). Augustus Gloop looked the part. The girls (Violet Beauregarde and Veruca Salt) were perfect. Mike Teavee had nothing over his incredibly annoying 1971 counterpart. The parents failed to leave much of an impression on me, other than Violet Beauregarde's mother (in matching blue tracksuit).

"Oompa Loompa doompa dee-doo, I've got another puzzle for you" - what the hell is up with the new oompa loompa songs? They are bloody horrible and unquestionably the absolute worst part of the film. I hated the musical numbers and couldn't wait for them to end (I can just see myself pressing the "next chapter" button on my remote when I have the DVD). Unlike the 1971 film, these songs are A: Not catchy. B: Impossible to understand C: Totally pointless. I had no friggen idea what the Oompa Loompas were on about, which was a shame because overall the new Oompa Loopma (a single actor portrayed them all with the aid of CG) was pretty cool and way more developed than the old ones - with a little backstory thrown in too. In a nice touch, the kids observe that the Oompa Loompa songs seem rehearsed and Wonka tries to defend the Oompa Loompas, saying that they are just improvising.

The look of the film is, of course, in the typical gothic Burton style (Dr Seuss inspiration too perhaps?). Apparently the entire "edible room" set was huge and relatively CG free - it looked cool, but it's not really that different to the old version (there I go again).

Overall, regardless of it's astounding similarity to the 1971 version (which I concede is inevitable because they are both based on the same book) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an excellent family film, full of imaginative visuals, held together by a solid script and an interesting central performance by the much over-rated Johnny Depp (I love the guy, but he's not that great). If I hadn't seen the original film so many times I may have enjoyed the new one even more... or less... who knows?

8/10