Charlie y la fábrica de chocolate

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" at the Wilkinson American Movie Day. And, oh boy, I was in delight! Don't expect a bleak remake of the amusing (and rather psychedelic) 1971-version. It is in every way a genuine Tim Burton-movie, stacked with beautiful imagery, wacky humor and bizarre characters, but at the same time faithful enough to the spirit of the novel. Roald Dahl would've been proud. It also features outstanding performances by the entire cast. Johnny Depp gives us a strange, almost creepy Willy Wonka, Freddie Highmore is a perfect Charlie, the Grandparents are lovable and wacky, and the five other children and their parents are amusingly irritating. And last but not least, an excellent soundtrack by Mr. Danny Elfman, reminiscent of both Edward Scissorhands and his early Oingo Boingo-days. Go see this with your parents, children, grandparents, movie buff-friends, nephews and nieces ... they will be equally delighted!

I never cease to be amazed by the versatility of Johnny Depp. Whether he is a pirate or writing Peter Pan or an adventurer or a criminal, he never fails to entertain. There is nothing he hasn't done in his 45 films, or will not have done in the five films currently in production or the 15 films in pre-production. Even as the creepy Willy Wonka (Think Michael Jackson for comparison.), he was magnificent. Maybe we have to blame his father (Christopher Lee) for some of that creepiness. After all, depriving your child of Halloween candy is just mean.

But, the real star of this film was Charlie (Freddie Highmore), who was the only sane child that arrived at the factory. He was surrounded by four of the most obnoxious children (and their obnoxious parents) that I have ever seen. They got what they deserved.

The color, imagination, costumes, and sets were magnificent. It was such a pleasure to watch.

Depp comes through again. I am not surprised.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Based on Roald Dahl's book, Directed by Tim Burton and written by John August. A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker. This movie has a special place in my heart because when I was little this movie was shown in every school vacation. I haven't read or saw the original book or movie. So there will be no comparison between source materials. I'm not sure the character Willy Wonka is the same in the source materials because I heard bad reviews about this version of Willy Wonka. We know every time Tim Burton doing a movie with Johnny Depp he creates his character kinda weird. Once again I'm not familiar with books or the original movie so I am going to tell how I feel about this version of Willy Wonka. Johnny Depp has done a marvelous job in this movie I loved how he acts around children and parents we know he has childhood problems so he is not comfortable with especially with invited children's parents. Freddie Highmore is ok but other child actors are better than him. Charlie Bucket's character is so flat to me. He is not doing anything at all after he entered the factory so not enough character development for his character. The visuals are magnificent the factory is a dreamland. When I first saw the scene of the chocolate river and land it's WoW. The Color combination in the factory is gorgeous. In the factory, the movie mainly focused on punishing children other than that nothing. I liked to see more details about the factory and the process of the factory. Now we are going to get a prequel movie about Willy Wonka and planning to watch the first film also. Finally, I need to say I had a good time with this movie.

If Tim Burton's out there I just want to thank him for bringing the spirit of the book's original illustrations to the screen. He even matched the facial expressions to the drawings, especially in the case of Charlie's family. Charlie himself looks like one of the drawings, and the Bucket house is so much like the illustrations it caused me to realize that Burton is as visual as any movie director can be. (Recent editions feature the work of a different illustrator. I'm talking about the illustrations from the 1960s. The difference between the older illustrations and the newer ones is the older ones feature a lot of cross-hatching. I imagine the older illustrations are still available, especially in a hardcover, but you'll need to search the net.) I don't know how he did it, but he got the facial expressions of Charlie's family and of Mike Teavea's father down perfectly. He also absorbed Dahl's sense of humor. The opening fifteen minutes or so, in which the winners of the golden tickets are announced one by one, really get Roald Dahl's sense of the ridiculous. I think Burton's addition of Wonka's childhood story fits well, although I'll agree that the way this is resolved is not completely in Dahl's spirit. Even in the resolution, however, Burton maintains sly humor. It is well-acted by everybody. I'd like to say that Julia Winter, who plays Veruca Salt, has turned in a truly well-observed comedic performance. Depp converts the novel's jaunty, precise Wonka into a quirky one, but it works well, because, as in the novel, Wonka's endearing traits contrast with the fact that he's a tyrant. Roald Dahl gets a rap for his cynicism, and this movie softens his message a bit. Dahl is a bit like Orwell. Both of them point out that man, given power, will exploit his fellow human beings. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY the movie is not quite as dark as the book. But it comes very, very close.

Growing up, my favorite book was, easily, "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory". Roald Dahl's magical tale of a young boy's adventure in the strange factory was spell-binding. Though I never had a problem with the original "Willy Wonka" move with Gene Wilder (despite how unfaithful it was, it was still a cute and heart-warming movie), I was doing back-flips when I heard Tim Burton, quite possibly my all-time favorite director, would helm a new version of the movie.

First and foremost, Johnny Depp is perfect as Willy Wonka. What people don't really pick up from the first movie is that Wonka was intended to be, well, crazy. He was eccentric and freaky, the way he allowed the rotten children to get what they deserved and protected his factory like it was his child. Gene Wilder portrayed Wonka more like a fatherly-figure, and really was just too nice. Depp pulls out all of the stops as a new Willy Wonka, though there are times that any audience member will get just a bit freaked out.

What I loved most about the movie was how faithful it was to the book. Everything that was mentioned, from the chocolate palace to the hair toffee, was taken directly from the book. I was incredibly impressed.

This is definitely a movie for everyone, especially those of us who hold the original tale in our hearts. Wonka chocolate bars for all!