Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Released 2005
Stars Freddie Highmore, Johnny Depp, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Deep Roy, Christopher Lee, Annasophia Robb, Julia Winter, Jordon Fry, Philip Wiegratz
Directed by Tim Burton

Lucky Charlie Bucket's one of five golden-ticket holders treated to a fantastical tour of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory in Tim Burton's remake. Along with the other four (rather naughty) contest winners, good-hearted Charlie (Freddie Highmore) visits the factory and encounters Oompa-Loompas, eats wonderful candy creations and meets the fascinating Wonka (Johnny Depp) himself. From the time he enters the factory, Charlie's life changes forever.

Summary by http://www.netflix.com

I loved the original version of this movie, and I wasn't sure why we needed a remake. After seeing Tim Burton's new version, I still feel that way. It's a good movie, but I liked the original much more. Some aspects are better, such as the Bucket family's story and the actor playing Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore). In fact, Charlie's story was so strong in the beginning, I thought this movie might actually be better, but then got weaker. One weakness was the performances. While Freddie Highmore's was a big improvement, I can't name anyone else who was even as good. The most notable performance is Johnny Depp's. I don't think anyone could do a better job than Gene Wilder, but Depp's performance is a mystery. It doesn't sink the film, but it does hurt it. Also, the other kids and their parents are no match for the original actors. Veruca Salt was deliciously nasty in the first one, but barely noticeable here. That's true for the rest of the kids and parents as well, partially because they're given so little screen time. That happened to be a good thing for the kid who played Mike Teavee, because he was so obnoxiously bad he could have sunk the film himself. Another problem was the big moments of the film didn't pay off like the original. Moments like when Charlie found the golden ticket just didn't have the same emotional impact. Part of it was because the original had musical numbers that punched up the emotion, but this version only used the Oompa-Loopmas for musical numbers. That was a huge difference, and I think it was a mistake. One thing that worked pretty well in this version was Willy's backstory with his dad. It was a nice addition that added an emotional subcurrent to the story. Overall, I think it's a decent film, but it pales in comparison to the original. --Bill Alward, August 8, 2005