Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2005 • 114 minutes

About this movie

Director Tim Burton brings his unique vision and sensibility to Roald Dahl's classic children's story in this lavish screen interpretation. Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) is the secretive and wildly imaginative man behind the world's most celebrated candy company, and while the Wonka factory is famously closed to visitors, the reclusive candy man decides to give five lucky children a chance to see the inside of his operation by placing "golden tickets" in five randomly selected chocolate bars. Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), whose poor but loving family lives literally in the shadow of the Wonka factory, is lucky enough to obtain one of the tickets, and Charlie, escorted by his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly), is in for the ride of a lifetime as he tours the strange and remarkable world of Wonka with fellow winners, media-obsessed Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), harsh and greedy Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), and ultra-competitive Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb). Over the course of the day, some of the children will learn difficult lessons about themselves, and one will go on to become Wonka's new right hand. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also stars Christopher Lee, James Fox, and Noah Taylor; the book was famously adapted to the screen before in 1971 under the title Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with Gene Wilder as the eccentric candy tycoon.

Ratings and reviews

While Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005 is more accurate to the book (such as squirrels, smaller oompa loompas, and overall has a darker tone), it falls short for multiple reasons. 1. Some actors were poorly choosen and couldn't act. They tried, but some didn't feel right. 2. The pacing can get really slow sometimes, making some scenes boring. 3. The over-reliance on CGI didn't make the chocolate factory believable then the 1970s version.

While I am a fan of Mr. Depp and of the original movie, I found myself bewildered by the cloned oompa loompas and over used CGI. The movie came across like a warped version of Gulliver's Travels because of its British overtones and dry humor. Though, I do have to admit that plot twist at the end was a good fit for this rendition.

The original was great this one fell short. Bad job with the oompa's and the songs could have stayed the same. Animation was terrible. Johnny Depp did Willy Wonka no justice, I like him in other movies. The whole movie he reminds me of Micheal Jackson, what the? Bad bad remake. If you are not going to do it right then leave it alone. All the things that made the original great were lost in this one. Next time ask the fans. Sheesh!