Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (2005)

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I saw this the other night in Toronto.

In a real stretch, Johnny Depp plays an eccentric guy in a film creatively shot and staged by Tim Burton.

I'll say Burton is visually exciting as always, with stuff so weird and exhilerating as to be funny, but it seemed as if there were lots of potential themes in this film that never went anywhere (like, the whole Michael Jacksonian business of children visiting a reclusive strange man at his childlike palace; and the issue of what a guy is doing with midget slave labor at a factory, etc etc etc).

This all kind of gets brushed aside as the whole "bad kids get punished" plotpoints are played up for their potential to have great special effects, there's a tacked-onto-the-original (film, not book, which I never read) story of how Wonka came to be a chocolatier and the music as performed by the Ooompaloompas is very, very funny.

Eventually all this stuff is dismissed as a fable narrated by ... oh, go see it.

I liked it for its sweet effects and cool shots and laughs, but not much of a movie.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I gave it two Willies.

It was fun, and more true to the book, and better than the original movie. I liked Gene Wilder's version of Willie Wonka better than Johnny Depp's, however.

[Guest cooby]

I haven't seen it yet, (and probably won't if they do the "Oompa Loompa" song, which has been known to keep me awake for nights on end,) but doesn't Johnny Depp look just beautiful in this film? What an outfit!

[MFS62]

Why do I get the feeling that before his film career is over, Johnny Depp will have worn more weird costumes and makeup than the entire cast of The Wizard of Oz combined?

Can't he just play an average joe? Just once?

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Let's dig at it.

Johnny Depp's costume makes him look like Michael Jackson. Apparently he also affects a sweet high-pitched voice.

Johnny Depp is playing a a rich eccentric recluse who either exploits children or fulfills their fantasies, it's unclear.

Michael Jackson is a rich eccentric recluse who either exploits children or fulfills their fantasies, it's unlear.

Johnny's last critically acclaimed role was playing J. M. Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan, in Finding Neverland

Michael Jackson identifies himself with Peter Pan, and named his ranch Neverland.

The same young actor who, in Finding Neverland, played a child Barrie cared for/protected/patronized/exploited/whatever, returns to play Charlie Bucket.

The film is directed by Tim Burton, who got his first feature when he was handpicked to direct Pee Wee's Big Adventure, the story of another weird manchild.

Paul Ruebens, the man behind Pee Wee, who handpicked Burton, also allegedly exploits children, it's unclear.

It's been insinuated that Barrie, the man, was a pedophile.

Roald Dahl, author of Charle and the Chocolate Factory, is more an eccentric weirdo in Burton's vein, more typically accused of being a misanthrope, whose saving grace appears to be that he hates adults more than he hates children.

Basically, swirtling around this film is a whole factory of men who leave you unsure of their motives --- either protectors or exploiters of childhood.

[MFS62]

So, are you saying that Michael Jackson has been coating himself with white chocolate?

Edgy, that is almost as strange as the comparisons made between Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy.

I haven't seen the movie, nor do I plan to. Does Depp wear only one glove in it?

Later

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I'm not sure why the most you can give this film in my review is 4 willies, but feel free to prorate them to 10. I tried to go with 5 options.

[RealityChuck]

Saw it on DVD yesterday. It was a nice adaptation of the book, though the Daddy Wonka subplot was completely unecessary and added nothing to the story.

Roald Dahl has always been well served in film.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Very unlike the Lincoln Kennedy parallels, I don't think the ones I listed are particularly coincidental.

[Guest Matt Murdock, Esq.]

the freudian subplot that tries to explain Wonka's motivations is stupid and pointless. I love Depp, but Wilder's Wonka was a work of genius.

and the original had MUCH better songs.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Really? I hated that "Cheer up Charlie" song that Charlie's mother sings in the original. Slows the movie to a dead stop.

I completely agree about Wilder over Depp.

I feel the same way about Robert Armstrong over Jack Black.

[Vic Sage]

PURE IMAGINATION and GOLDEN TICKET are still excellent musical theater songs. I like CHEER UP, CHARLIE, too, but agree that it doesn't move the story forward. My 5-year old does a great rendition, though.

Not only Armstrong over Black, but Kong `33 over Kong '05... the whole kit-n-kaboodle.

[Guest sharpie]

2 willies. Woulda gone to 2 and a half if it were available. Nice looking but predictable.