Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

Can I just say that I'm a fan of the original 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'? Lets get that out there because it says a lot about my frame of mind going into what I considered to be a remake. Yeah yeah yeah, I know - this ones based on the book more so it's really NOT a remake, but Gene Wilder was Mr. Wonka through my childhood and adult life. That doesn't go away over night. Plus, Tim Burtons movies are just too bizarre for my tastes, normally.

Johnny Depp is HOT. That also needs to be said - along with the fact that his character portrayal REALLY creeped me out in the previews. I went in hesitant, to say the least - but the hubby and the kidlets wanted to see it, so off we went. Now, having just gotten back home, I have one word...

WOW!!!!!!

They gave Willy a backstory! It was no long just a purple glad Gene Wilder doing his softshoe through the edible tulips, but a genuine and flawed candy maker with a PAST! Willys father was portrayed by Christopher Lee. I'm not sure how my Star Wars tunnel-visioned brain missed that part of the press release, but what a shocker to see his name in the credits.

The Oompa Loompas are also a refreshing change - tiny little creatures and even THEY have a backstory. Their songs are often hard to make out, but Mr. Elfman did a wonderful job with the music. He and Burton must have been separated at birth - their partnership is easily as symbiont as Lucas and Williams. The fact that they have a song ready and waiting for each failed child is questioned by the continuing members, and gracefully ignored by Mr. Wonka - making it all that much funnier.

Having never read the book, I was unsure of what would be different. I love the changes made to Voilet and her mother. Originally she was just an annoying pushy kid who chomped her gum - but now she and her mother were girls on a mission. Mike TeeVee is accompanied by his father, whos a teacher, instead of his mother the teacher. His TV obsession is updated from westerns to violent video games. Augustus and his mother remain refreshingly the same. Veruca Salt and her father are close to the original as well.

Things I really loved about this movie...

• Johnny Depp - he made me like Willy despite that terrible haircut and creepy expression. His subtle glances to Charlie throughout the tour are very telling.
• The visuals - talk about visual overload! For every bit of his movies that I find creepy and odd, Tim Burton matches that ounce for ounce with spectacular sets and designs. The Chocolate Factory was no different - colors that I think Burton himself invented and an imagination beyond imaginations.
• The Music - I know I mentioned it already, but it bears repeating.
• The humor - Johnnys Wonka might look creepy, but he brings a humor to him and a neurotic side that makes him human and endearing. Wilders Wonka was larger than life - not so much with this version. He was just a guy, living his dream, forced into seclusion by candy competitor spies.
• The end - not because it was the end but because it wasn't the end of the original movie. Even as a child it bothered me that Wonka turned on Charlie - that he would be so mean and so cruel to this child who had done no harm, simply to 'test' him. Even when he gave him the factory, I still harbored a foul taste from his tactics. Happily, this wasn't Burtons ending and that made it all that much more special for me.

The boys wanted to see it again as soon as it ended and had asked even before we stood to leave if we could buy it on video when it comes out. I'll be right there waiting as they unpack the boxes. The movie that I had worried about enjoying, has now become my favorite of the two. Now...to go find the soundtrack.