Roald Dahl has made some imaginative children stories that border on the line of innocent and dark from "The BFG" to "The Witches". His most famous work is by far the 1964 novel, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". While the 1971 film adaptation continues to have a cult following and a fanbase strong on nostalgic memories, Dahl himself despised the film for various reasons from changing aspects of the music and tone to Gene Wilder's performance. When Warner Bros went to the estate to do another film based on the story, Dahl's widow and daughter agree to have the project greenlit with the condition that they have artistic license and final say on the script and casting. The 2005 film continues to be a polarizing adaptation to this day with some either loving it or preferring the 1971 film for different reasons. However, considering the development of the remake and the perspective of the Dahl estate, the 2005 film might be the most faithful and potentially the best adaption of the author's works, despite a flaw or two. The story follows Charlie Bucket, a poor, starving kid living with his family. Charlie is always fascinated by stories from his Grandpa Joe about working with the legendary and elusive Willy Wonka, a chocolatier who runs the most extravagant factory with mouthwatering treats and products. One day, Wonka announces a contest where five children can receive a tour of the factory and win a special prize provided that they find a Golden Ticket inside of a Wonka bar. Charlie manages to earn a spot in the contest and, with four misbehaved kids, he manages to experience a one-of-a-kind adventure with his idol, Willy Wonka himself. The adaptation manages to borrow more elements and concepts compared to the original film, given its larger budget and modern technology. However, it does add one noteworthy sub-plot with Wonka's past and disliking family and parental authority. This particular sub-plot is hit-or-miss as while it does work for this particular portrayal of the character, it removes some of the mystery of Wonka and it tends to make the ending a bit long. Despite this addition, the tone is wonderfully whimsical and occasionally down-to-earth. I will go over more about in the filmmaking segment, but the tone is both in spirit to Dahl's vision and in nature with Tim Burton's child-friendly work. There can be some questionable moments for those who have a dirty mind, but it tends to aim at the imagination of children rather than those who want a dark edge to their family films. The comedy is more based on the characters and their quirks, which can work if one enjoys all of the characters as a whole. There's no clever word-play or slapstick per se, but the interactions and reactions of the characters as they witness each other and the wonders of the factory.
Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka has always been compared to both Wilder's performance and the strange allusions to Micheal Jackson. Despite the actor claiming that it wasn't at all trying to replicate the personality of the late king of pop, I actually enjoy his performance no matter what were the inspirations. The Jackson comparisons are strangely correct as the appearance, mannerism and even the storyline of the estrangement from his father is very much the same, aside from Wonka clearly not liking children that much. Depp works at being this flamboyant, charming, child-minded adult who is reclusive in his work and not wanting to open up to others while also being this larger-than-life character. I feel that Depp gets a ton of unwanted hate due to how people adore the more cynical and mysterious performance by Wilder or those who don't like the Jackson-esque portrayal. Still, I feel that Depp pulls off the look and mannerism of the Wonka described in Dahl's story for the most part. Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket works well as the wide-eyed innocence who deserves good fortune in his life, but some feel that he is unrealistic in that he never makes bad choices in his life. I personally feel that Charlie's personality was molded by his rather optimistic family, so the criticism regarding his personality is null and void. I also think that his want to stick with family or even selling the Golden Ticket are nice subtle moments of his character recognizing his state in poverty amidst his happy-go-lucky personality. Apart from the leads, there are tons of side characters to talk about. David Kelly as Grandpa Joe is really charming in his energetic personality in this fragile body, while Noah Tyler and Helena Bonham Carter as Mr. and Mrs. Bucket act as the generic nice parents living in poverty and who never show weakness. The kids (Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, Veruca Salt, and Mike Teavee) are given some great child actors and actresses to make them both despicable and somewhat likeable for their sinful personalities and perspectives. Their respective parents are also well-casted and performed to be somewhat unlikeable. After all, it was the parenting of these kids to blame for their personalities and issues rather than the kids themselves who can redeem themselves later in life. Christopher Lee hams it up as Wonka's father, a dentist who despises candy due to wanting his son to have good dental hygiene, while the narration by the late Geoffrey Holder is endearing in how unnecessary it is. Deep Roy plays as the Oompa-Loompas, the workers of Wonka who love to sing and dance. Even though he looks nowhere close to being strange or odd as the ones who appeared in the original film or even the book, Roy is just having such a good time in an otherwise mime act as he never utters a word onscreen, with Danny Elfman dubbing over him during the musical numbers. The only characters to not really work much will be the other grandparents. Grandpa George is noteworthy for the pep talk with Charlie, but the grandmothers do absolutely nothing with one barely speaking and the other clearly having dementia or something. Regardless, the cast is frankly fantastic with everyone filling their roles as great as they can be, with Depp offering the best performance as Wonka.
If there was one director who could adapt Dahl's work most authentically, it would be the mind that is Tim Burton. The visionary director pulls off the sense of wonder and charm that is found in the novel with fantastic art design and aesthetic. Burton makes the clever and subtle choice of having the film be set in Charlie's perspective. While it makes sense when the viewer sees the stories of Wonka and the imaginative factory that could potentially be over the top due to the child's imagination, it proves most effective by the use of colour and setting. Charlie's British town is a constant dull and grey winter that has all meaning of colour sucked out. Notice that when the film switches to a location of another city or home of a ticket holder, it's far more visually clean and stimulant with mild colours, which is contrasted by Charlie's life in poverty and mild envy. The world Charlie lives in feels unfair and down-to-earth in contrast to the almost-magical chocolate factory that's hidden in plain sight. By the time the characters enter the chocolate factory, the film not only explodes in colour, but offers the surreal imagery that Burton manages to adapt brilliantly from Dahl's book. The only thing that's not nearly on the same page is the cinematography by Phillippe Rousselot. While the camerawork during the musical numbers along with the grand arial and high-angle shots work, most of the film consists of medium or close-up shots that seem to not have a real sense of direction aside from the eye candy appeal. The effects, both physical and digital, are extremely good, pun intended. The use of physical props, sets, and squirrels give out a sense of child-like wonder and realism. The CGI factory, melted chocolate, green-screen and glass elevator are used when appropriate, showing that Burton tries to not overuse CGI when possible. The music by Elfman is mostly consisting of the grand factory theme with the Oompa-Loompas doing a tribal, almost gothic, chant with a sense of mystery and suspense. However, it's the musical numbers that really shine. The animatronic-performed song introducing Willy Wonka is a nice earworm piece, Augustus's number is Bollywood-inspired with a memorable beat and rhythm, Violet's number has a 1970's funk-sounding piece, Veruca's number is akin to the Beatles with its 60's style pop and harmony choir, and Mike's number is a nice homage to both 1980's rock and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Compare all you want to the original film and musical numbers, but Elfman knows how to make unique songs for the respective characters.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is up there with the 1990 "The Witches" in regards to being a faithful and entertaining film adaptation of Dahl's work. Despite the sub-plot regarding Wonka's past and father issues slows the ending down for being unnecessary, Charlie's parents and grandparents are either generic or boring and the cinematography by Rousselot can be a mixed bag in ambition, there's so much delight to be found in the feature. From the more faithful story and tone, comedy that works because the characters work off each other well, Depp's portrayal as Wonka is interesting in how charming and odd he can be, Highmore's performance as Charlie is great and works well in regards to the household he grows up in, the majority of the side cast is given fantastic actors/actresses who work in both being charming and awful, the physical and digital effects are really polished and makes both the factory and the candy tangible to the senses, the score by Elfman is good as always, the musical numbers and songs attached are extremely unique and memorable in their own way, and Burton's direction manages to brilliantly put the viewer in Charlie's perspective with witty uses of imagination and colour. The film is like eating a wonderful treat, flaws and all. While I personally prefer this film over to the original, it doesn't mean the 1971 film is terrible or even bad. It just means that I prefer the film that happens to respect Dahl's work the most rather than the one that was more bold with budget and direction.
Verdict: 8.5/10. Almost a family classic if the issues ironed out, but much like the forbidden chocolate bar in a diet, it's too sweet to not watch multiple times.
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