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Johnny Depp in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Rated PG for quirky situations, action and mild language. 1 hour, 55 minutes. Publication date: Jul. 15, 2005 Review by Susan Tavernetti Released: (2005)

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Director Tim Burton and Johnny Depp must have been like kids in a candy store, eagerly eyeing all the delectable confections of Roald Dahl's 1964 children's book and the original 1971 fantasy starring Gene Wilder. But instead of sampling the same-old safe, predictable flavors, the pair went on a sugar-fueled bender of creativity. Burton's fingerprints are all over the edgy humor and quirky look of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." And Depp, already initiated to the seductive pleasures of "Chocolat," makes daring choices that give Willy Wonka a whole new, non-gooey center.

Fortunately, you won't need a Golden Ticket to enter one of the summer's best family fun factories.

Screenwriter John August ("Big Fish") managed to stay faithful to Dahl's candy-land caper, while crafting a bittersweet social satire and delicious backstory for Willy Wonka. All the beloved characters -- some of whom you'll love to hate -- are back. Ordinary little Charlie Bucket (played by that sugar plum of a child actor, Freddy Highmore of "Finding Neverland") only gets one candy bar a year -- on his birthday. What does he do? He graciously shares it with his poverty-stricken, loving family (Helena Bonham Carter of "Big Fish" and Noah Taylor of the "Lara Croft" franchise play the parents).

So when Grandpa Joe (David Kelly of "Waking Ned Devine") mutters, "He's such a good boy, really," you can't help but nod your head in agreement. The other four Golden Ticket holders, who win entry to the closed Wonka factory and the chance to win a special prize, are deplorable brats: Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregard, Veruca Salt and Mike Teavee hilariously personify the worst of today's overindulged, competitive children.

Depp's amazing chocolatier is weird-looking on the outside and a damaged child on the inside (thanks to Christopher Lee's chilling turn as Willie's dentist dad). One minute the eccentric grandly announces to his guests that everything in the chocolate-waterfall room can be eaten, and the next moment coyly adds, "I'm eatable, but that's called cannibalism." Clearly, Depp is not Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka.

A master of mise en scËne, Burton layers his decor with detail upon detail until the visuals swirl in surreal flourishes. The world outside the factory seems snatched from the pages of Dickens' dreary "Bleak House." The inside is Technicolor eye candy. When squirrels test to see if Veruca is a bad nut or an Oompa-Loompa (Deep Roy) busts a few Bollywood-Busby Berkeley dance moves, the set pieces scream "Classic."

Wrapping food for thought in a sugarcoating, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is the Everlasting Gobstopper of Dahl adaptations.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Movies | Palo Alto Online | https://www.paloaltoonline.com/movies/reviews/Charlie-and-the-Ch...

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