Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is one of his best loved books and was made into a major motion picture some years ago. The film adaptation itself has become a classic, so what was Tim Burton thinking in remaking it?

He was probably thinking, I loved this book as a child and I really want to do a modern version of it with all the special effects we have come to expect. This film, with Depp at the helm as Willy Wonka, brings the book to life in ways that the original never did.

For anyone unfamiliar with the plot, Chalie and his family live on practically nothing in their house which would have been demolished years ago were the land it stood on more valuable. Charlie is the sweetest little lad imaginable and he cares for his family far more than his own happiness.

Willy Wonka, the billionaire cofectionaire launches a competition. He places a golden ticket in 5 of his chocolate bars and invites the winners to a once in a lifetime tour of his factory.

The world goes crazy, snapping up the candy bars until all five tickets are gone. Charlie, who gets a single bar once a year "doesn't stand a chance". Until he finds some money lying on the kerb. It turns out that the final winner was a fraud and when charlie buys a chocolatebar with the money he has found, he finds the last ticket.

Depp is wonderfully excentric as Willy Wonka. The flashbacks are brilliant, as are some of his quips and his clumsiness. Charlie is the star of the show, I thought though. He is ably played and comes accross as being so "sweet".

My one problem was the anamatronic display when they entered the factory, though thankfully the way that ended cheered me up quite a bit.

If you have kids, they will love this movie. If you are young at heart you'll also probably also love this one. Try not to compare it to the first film, there are differences and Wonka is played very differently. The blueberry bit is far better in this one ;o)

see also:
Arthur Christmas, Up, Flushed Away, Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

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photo © Warner Brothers.