Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Year: 2005
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Deep Roy, Christopher Lee

Tim Burton is well known in Hollywood for his unique style of filmmaking. There's a sense of darkness and quirkiness in his work, which connects really well with the retro settings usually seen in his movies. Everything from Batman to Edward Scissorhands to Sleepy Hollow to Mars Attacks! to Big Fish shares that same inimitable style of his. More often than not, that is the strength of his films. And of course, having Johnny Depp star in some of his big successes wouldn't hurt either.

In this film, based on the classic by Roald Dahl, Burton tells the tale of a young boy named Charlie Bucket who is blessed with a loving family. But he is dirt poor. His house is tilted to one side and all four of his grandparents share the same bed. His dad works in a toothpaste company putting the caps on the tubes. They barely have enough to eat every day, but they manage.

Charlie always had a fascination for the mysterious chocolate factory in town, owned by the eccentric Willy Wonka. Heck, he even built a model of the factory out of toothpaste tube caps! Little did he know that soemthing incredible was about to happen to him. One day, Willy Wonka makes an announcement: he will invite 5 young children and a guardian each to visit his factory for a day. At the end of that visit, one of the children will receive a prize. How does a child get invited? Buy a Wonka chocolate bar with a golden ticket inside. With only 5 tickets available, the odds are surely staggering.

So children all over the world start scampering for the chocolate bars. A fat boy from Germany (who can't stop eating chocolate), a spoilt girl from England, an obsessively competitive girl and a smart but arrogant boy from the States (neither of them like chocolate) win the first 4 tickets. And as expected, through sheer good luck, Charlie Bucket wins the last one.

So all 5 children and their respective guardians walk into the factory guided by Willy Wonka, and they (as well as the audience) discover a whole new world inside. Chocolate of all kinds, shapes and sizes are being made by Wonka's workers, the Oompa Loompas, tiny yet diligent midgets. And they all look alike! Wonka lets them look and try everything, but warns them of certain things they should not do, and when the bad kids disobey, they are quickly disposed of till there is one worthy child to be declared the winner. No prizes for guessing who wins.

Depp is brilliant as the funny and eccentric Wonka. His skin was made to look as pale as porcelain, and Depp wears this plastic smile and childish grin to complete the look. The most hilarious scenes are when Wonka has to resort to reading cue cards to communicate with his guests. Somebody give Depp an Oscar already, he's just too good. Not to be outdone is Freddie Highmore who does a splendid job as Charlie. He does well portraying a really good kid who loves his family more than anything. Kids like Charlie probably don't exist in the real world, or maybe there are some but very scarce in number, which makes it hard to believe there are kids like that in reality. But Freddie makes you believe in him somehow.

Deep Roy, who plays all of the Oompa Loompas does marvelously too. The song and dance routine featuring the Oompa Loompas are creative and fun indeed to watch. But all this is possible thanks to Tim Burton who hits all the right notes in bringing this story to life.

A fun filled film for the family, guaranteed. (4.5/5)