Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Movie Review

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 family fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. It is such a good, respectable adaptation and a very underrated film.

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“Little girl?

Don’t touch that squirrel’s nuts!

It’ll make him crazy!“

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First, let’s just say that I am a big fan of 1971’s ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ and as such I was excited to see this reincarnation too. And I was pleased with the end results as it is perfectly suited for Tim Burton’s sensibilities and he executed the entire movie so well. The original film is better because it is more memorable and much darker which is something that this movie lacks, but this is still a very respectable film that isn’t far away from the original’s quality.

I loved Johnny Depp’s performance here, I really did. The haters could argue otherwise, but to me both Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp have given us a great Willy Wonka. The former is immensely memorable, funny and possessing a dark humor and quality to him and the latter is much less dark, but definitely funnier and more over-the-top and campy. Both are phenomenal and Depp here gave one of his better performances in my opinion as he was just delightful and one of the finest aspects in the movie.

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Charlie is again a boring, but still essential character. I liked how the parents got bigger roles this time around and some of them were quite funny. Of the kids, all were great and I loved how each of them met their end. However, what I didn’t like here is a significantly lightweight and family approach to their disqualification scenes and in that area the original film is much more memorable and much more sinister.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a terrific visual experience as is always the case with this particular director’s films. I did appreciate the use of more practical effects in the 1971 version, but this 2005 version benefits from a great use of CGI nonetheless as it looks exceptional and didn’t age at all. I loved that it is more colorful than dark and everything in that factory was absolutely phenomenal and gorgeous to witness.

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I loved the humor. Some of the highlights were all of those scenes where the children met their end as well as their introductory scenes, all of those were great. But Wonka is simply hilarious at times and the moment when one of the mothers flirted with him was great with the look on his face being hysterical. He truly is hilarious in this flick.

I really disliked the soundtrack here. It is easily the worst thing in the movie and the only aspect that significantly lowers its quality. Wonka’s Welcome Song is really a lot of fun and so catchy, but every other song is so mediocre and just way too modern for this type of movie. And most of those songs should have been cut off completely as they didn’t bring anything of real substance to the table.

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Overall, this movie is one of the better, not the best, but certainly one of the better Tim Burton films. Its story is respectably handled and faithful to the source material and it was incredibly entertaining and always very involving to watch while also being really well edited with the structure being deft and the third act being simply wonderful. I liked the dialogue quite a bit and although the tone wasn’t as well handled, the emotion was definitely there and in just the right amount. The flashback structure was pretty good. The first one with the Oompa-Loompas was pretty annoying, but all of the others significantly helped Wonka’s character development and came at just the right time.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a very respectable film that does have its issues such as the lack of a darker tone and a mostly very annoying soundtrack, but the characterization and storytelling are both excellent here, the flashback structure is well handled, the humor is great and the visual effects are expectedly terrific. But Johnny Depp is the most memorable aspect here. Whereas Gene Wilder was more sinister and memorable, Depp is funnier and more campy and ultimately both Willy Wonkas are excellent and both movies are really good with this one being one of the better films from Burton and one of his most underrated.

My Rating – 4

You can get Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Amazon.