Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

For me, watching Tim Burton films means visiting my home in an alternative world. Each of them is like a cozy house with a fireplace and a family of archetypal motifs, characters and techniques that "make" Burton's characteristic poetics. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory presents a work absolutely immersed in the precise visuality and typical plasticity of the fantastic world of the bizarre chocolate magician Willy Wonka. The incredible explosion of colors and sounds is managed with absolute bravura, and in addition to the dynamic ride on the chocolate river, there is, as always, room for drawing characters. True, the middle passage is perhaps too fixed on the image, but the fireworks of the invention and the great melodies of Danny Elfman are so captivating that one forgives the film for this. The highlight is undoubtedly the parody quote from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and also the strange tension between the kindly fairy-tale humor and the suspected edge of black humor, without which one can no longer imagine Tim... But after all this, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes out extraordinarily harmoniously and all the supposed sharp edges are ground down with a beautiful finale. The adornment of Burton's delicacy is definitely Johnny Depp, whose Wonka balances somewhere between the fragility of Ichabod Crane (Sleepy Hollow) and the eccentricity of Captain Jack Sparrow. As in Finding Neverland, duet with Freddie Highmore is beautiful, despite the much more limited space. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory may not be as exciting in terms of content, yet its visuals, humor, magic and charm create another gem from the workshop of the weirdo Tim. (01/21/2006)

A breathtaking visual experience. The atmosphere of the entire film is pleasantly "sweet" and the moral messages are not surprisingly intrusive; on the contrary, they need not be restricted to the kids. :) For Burton, for Depp, for Elfman, for the feast for the eyes, and for some really hilarious jokes, 5 stars. (05/04/2009)

Tim Burton's version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I'm ashamed to admit I haven't seen the 1971 film yet) is quite possibly the best adaptation of Roald Dahl's work. Burton's film, as is his way, is brimming with gorgeous (albeit at times very digital) visuals and beautiful sets. The driving force behind the whole story is Johnny Depp, who’s always good in the role of quirky oddballs, he manages to portray the goofy chocolate factory owner to perfection. I've never found myself liking Freddie Highmore, and even after many screening, that hasn't changed. The other actors are all well suited to their roles, even if they didn't have as much space – I was most impressed with Christopher Lee and the quartet of grandparents. Anyone who doesn't like Burton's style will probably suffer with Charlie, but I enjoyed this sweet excursion between the Oompa-Loompas, the squirrels and the whipped cream immensely. PS: “Everything in this room is eatable, even *I'm* eatable! But that is called ‘cannibalism’, my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies.” (10/22/2022)

This is a lovely, funny, and imaginative movie that I really enjoyed, and although I am not familiar with the book, I think it sticks to the book quite well and where it did deviate, it did so in a witty, original, and playful way. The actors are excellent – both the adults (Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, in particular, gives a terrific performance) and the child actors. The child actors portray the little bastards superbly, but best of all are AnnaSophia Robb and Jordan Fry; of the "good" ones there is only one – Charlie – played, of course, by Freddie Highmore. The soundtrack (as with most of Tim's movies) is, as always, excellent, the sets are a little garish and over the top, however, that is just something that simply belongs to Tim’s world, and only adds to the movie’s uniqueness. This is therefore a great movie that has left me impressed for a long time after seeing it. (07/25/2008)

Tim Burton ignores the darkness and goes far beyond the kitsch of opulent color to literally create a breathtaking world made from the sweetest ingredients. He does a great job with the exaggeration, and such an overly pathetic story about family cohesion is in fact not awkward, but rather endearing. Johnny Depp's eccentric acting is just as entertaining as the little Oompa-Loompas, whose songs may be a bit self-indulgent, but what isn't in this film? Burton exaggerated everything so beautifully that I ate it up completely. And I very much enjoyed it. (04/14/2006)