Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)July 28th, 2005
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Although I'm a big fan of WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, I enjoyed Tim Burton's remake as well, even if Gene Wilder's infectious charm is sorely missing. The new version is aptly titled CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY since this is more Charlie's story than the original, which focused on Willy Wonka. The weakest link in the new film is Johnny Depp, who creepily channels Michael Jackson as Willy Wonka. The scenes with Depp are good but those without him are much better. And Depp's arrival in the frame more often stops the story's momentum than enhances it.
But there is plenty to like in this new rendition. The art and set decoration are spectacular. And the special effects are imaginative and inviting. The sweetest part of the story occurs in Charlie's home, where his four grandparents occupy a single bed. The film's best line comes from Grandpa Joe (David Kelly), who jumps out of bed, shrieks "Yippee!" and starts dancing a jig when Willy finds he has gotten the golden ticket which will permit him a tour of the famous chocolate factory. The tour turns out to be such a treat that one both hopes and expects the studio to turn it into a ride. But until that ride is built, the movie will have to suffice.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY runs a little too long at 1:55. It is rated PG for "quirky situations, action and mild language" and would be acceptable for all ages.
My son Jeffrey, age 16, giving it **, said that he had mixed emotions. He thought Depp was funny but too much like Michael Jackson. He thought it was too slow and felt more like a tour of the factory than a movie. He complained that the Oompa Loompa songs were incomprehensible since you couldn't hear the lyrics. He thought the house looked too much like something out of Dr. Seuss, and he didn't like the way the parents were made into such dummies.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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