The Unseen Movie Review

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Tim Burton’s take on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s tale of a young boy who wins a tour of the mysterious Willy Wonka’s fantastic sweet factory has been awaited with a mixture of expectation and dread.

The Gene Wilder-starring 1971 film version of the story, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is for many an all-time favourite thanks to its combination of a superb central performance, the weirdness of the Oompa-Loompas and a number of catchy songs, and its fans have been fearing a desecration of their fond memories. Equally, Tim Burton has not been on best form over the last few years, with Big Fish not being up to the standard of his earlier masterpieces like Edward Scissorhands and his “re-imagining” of Planet of the Apes being, even to his most ardent fans, a load of old rubbish.

The fact that this is another Burton “re-imagining” of a favourite cult classic has led many to fear the worst, but at the same time it is a return to the kind of territory in which he has so often excelled – an eccentric loner in a weird world which allows plenty of scope for Burton’s trademark visual inventiveness. And then there’s the fact that the always excellent Johnny Depp has taken the Wonka role and really made it his own, basing it on a combination of weirdo popstar Michael Jackson and shock-rocker Marilyn Manson just as he based Pirates of the Carribean’s Jack Sparrow on Rolling Stone Keith Richards, adding promise of something truly special.

Oddly, considering this version has the boy Charlie in the title and the 1971 version opted to push Willy Wonka, whereas the child was the main focus of the earlier film, here Depp’s Wonka not only steals the show but is the main focus of the movie. Let’s face it, a reclusive and eccentric sweet manufacturer is always going to be more fun and interesting to watch than a sweet and innocent, poverty-stricken boy. So whereas Wilder’s Wonka was odd without explanation, here we are treated to flashbacks revealing the genesis of this utterly weird entrepreneur, and how he came to be living in his bizarre factory with only the dwarf-like Oompa-Loompas (complete with their song and dance numbers) for company.

This extra characterisation, missing from both book and earlier film, adds much, works superbly, and ensures that few fans of the 1971 version will resent this new take on Dahl’s tale. It also means that, in the wake of Michael Jackson’s acquittal, it will be hard not to see parallels with the erstwhile King of Pop, as Wonka is, beyond being merely just another eccentric innocent in a long line of Burton odd-ball heroes, quite uncannily like that plastic-faced megastar.

It is about time that Burton had a real return to form, and this is it – plus we’ve still got the Depp-starring, Burton-directed Corpse Bride to look forward to later in the year.

posted by Nosemonkey @ 4:03 AM