Dark and Sweet Chocolate
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory Outdoes Seventies Original

When I first heard that director Tim Burton was going to remake Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I had a feeling of dread. It seemed a little pointless as the original 1971 film starring Gene Wilder in the title role has held up rather well over the years. The idea reminded me of the terrible remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. It also seemed to be a waste of time for a director as talented and original as Burton.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

Fun for young and old alike! Freddie Highmore stars as Charlie Bucket and David Kelly stars as Grandpa Joe in the new Tim Burton film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Burton chose to use the title of the 1963 book by Roald Dahl) is an instant classic and will make everyone except diehard Gene Wilder fans forget about the other movie. The new version goes back to the book for inspiration and in doing so creates a movie that is both darker and warmer than the original film.

C&CF stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, the mysterious chocolatier who runs a giant candy factory in Great Britain. Years ago he fired all of his employees for selling trade secrets to rivals and now runs his factory with the help of Oompa Loompas, strange little creatures about two feet tall. He holds a worldwide contest and allows the five winning children the opportunity to visit his factory.

Although much will be said about Depp’s marvelous performance as Willy Wonka, the movie has much more going for it. In fact, Wonka doesn’t appear until a third of the way through the film. Long before that moment, however, Burton has cast his magic spell over the audience. Even the opening credits—featuring a fast-paced tour of the factory’s candy bar assembly line—are breathtaking.

Much like the change in the name, the change in this film over its predecessor is in putting the focus more on Charlie, the poor-in-wealth but rich-in-spirit youngster who gets a chance to visit Wonka’s factory. As we visit Charlie (Freddie Highmore) and the rest of the Bucket clan in their dilapidated house not far from the factory, we immediately are drawn into their kindly dreamers’ world.

Charlie’s good-hearted family is also shown through contrast as we meet the first four young winners of the factory tour: a glutton, a spoiled rich kid, an ultra-competitive southern girl and an aggressive video game addict. These kids and their parents practically steal the show with their vain attempts to win the contest within the contest. The talented Missi Pyle (Galaxy Quest) shines as former baton twirler Mrs. Beauregarde while Adam Godley’s Mike Teavee is as quietly scary as Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs.

Through flashback sequences we see how Wonka became such the candy connoisseur. His dentist father (Christopher Lee) denies him his Halloween candy setting off a chain of events leading to Willy’s choice of career. Lee correctly translates the heartbreaking darkness of these flashback scenes.

Another scene-stealer is Deep Roy, the actor who plays all of the Oompa Loompas. As each of the bratty kids gets his or her just desserts in the chocolate factory, legions of Oompa Loompas come out to sing about it. The musical sequences, all of them written and performed by longtime Burton cohort Danny Elfman, range from sly acoustic pop to disco to hard rock and all are totally hilarious. In fact, all of the music in the film shows Elfman at the top of his game. He is truly the Elmer Bernstein of our time.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the first movie that I can remember seeing where I felt that I had just witnessed a timeless classic on par with The Wizard of Oz. Without a doubt, this movie will be revered for years. It has heart and humor, it is visually stunning, and it is equally appealing to kids and adults. It will be interesting to see if the Academy can ignore it come Oscar time.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is rated PG for quirky situations, action and mild language. It is currently playing at Regal Cinemas in Boone.