Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
The name Roald Dahl may not seem especially familiar to a great many. Dahl was a children’s author from the UK with a slightly off-beat imagination, but incredibly gifted. His works spanned from the early 60’s up until his death in 1990. Though you may not recognize the name, you’ll certainly recognize his work. Most notably, Charlie and the Chocolate factory has captivated adults and children for over 40 years, not to mention become one of Hollywood’s most colorful and visually stunning movies of all time.
Enter Tim Burton. His second attempt at bringing one of Dahl’s story to the big screen (the first being the animated James and the Giant Peach), Burton injects the story with a dark humor native to the book, but missing from Gene Wilder’s Wonka of 1971. Johnny Depp takes the role of the reclusive candy maker and makes a clear case for why Mr. Wonka never leaves his wondrous chcolate factory. Charlie comes from Depp’s recommendation, young Freddy Highmore, who appeared alongside him in Finding Neverland and Charlie’s mother comes from Burtons’ recommendation, or rather his household, as portrayed by wife Helena Bonham Carter.
The story is rather simple. Charlie lives with his mother, father and both sets of grandparents in a very small, crumbling house on the outskirts of town. Mr. Bucket, Charlie’s father, is the only bread-winner for the house, working as a toothpaste tube capper. Despite their poverty, the family is happy just being together. Charlie loves chocolate and is fascinated by the giant candy factory in his town and its mysterious owner. Unfortunately, Charlie’s parents can only afford to give him one bar of chocolate a year for his birthday. Charlie becomes one of 5 of the luckiest kids in the world when he finds a rare Golden Ticket in his chocolate that grants himself and a member of his family a tour of the inside of the wonderous factory and the chance to meet Willy Wonka himself.
All said, the movie is twisted, but heartwarming. It carries a strong family oriented message without forcing it down your throat. The naughty children (and their parents) are taught life-lessons when each are confronted by some form of the 7 deadly sins (gluttony for example), while Charlie is ultimately rewarded for sticking by his morals and family values. It’s easy to see what happens in between as just eye candy, but there is more than just nougat. The sets reflect Burton’s skewed style of angles and twists, skewing even the simplest of houses just slightly to make the audience feel just a tad uncomfortable. There is a lot to look at here, and not just in the factory, though most of the plot takes place in the various candy making and experimentation rooms found in its labyrinth.
The film is good, though not great as some hype may have it. Depp does a great job at portraying a Wonka that more closely resembles the Willy from his literary roots than Gene Wilder’s did. Each of the children likewise play excellent stereotypes (spoiled, bloated, defiant) that hold as much truth today as they did in the 60’s when Dahl wrote the book. The Oompa-Loompas are of course ever-present, played by a single actor filmed multiple times and composited digitally on-screen. Even their irreverent songs are back, but not as they were seen in the 70’s. Instead their lyrics are taken right from Dahl’s book and given modern beats from different music genres, sung by the film’s composer Danny Elfman, then dubbed and remixed multiple times as if many Loompas were singing.
It’s a near impossibility to review this film without comparing it to the Wonka of the 70’s. Gene Wilder had a warm childlike curiosity Johnny Depp lacks in his rendition, but it’s neither good nor bad. Just different. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory holds strong as a good adult/kid film, so take the fam or just yourself, just don’t expect to be craving a Hershey’s bar after watching 2 hours of chocolate bombardment.
