My Movie Review on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) · 11:09pm Apr 11th, 2020
Greetings, my friends.
This is your jolly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, following my analysis on "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)".
Considering that the premise is pretty much the same as the last movie, I hardly think giving a rundown of it is necessary.
I’d like to be honest, I had never seen this film until just this morning after renting it on iTunes 20 days ago. Although, I read many interesting things about the movie, such as how enthusiastic the family of Roald Dahl were to have Tim Burton onboard as director in contrast to others that were previously courted for the position, such as Rob Minkoff. The prime reasons I wanted to see this movie were because of Johnny Depp, as he is and always will be one of my favorite actors, and because I wanted to make a comparison with it and the film from 1971.
Sadly, I didn’t think this movie was as enjoyable as the previous movie. I mean, it was definitely interesting, but it wasn’t something I wanted to go running to the store for afterwards.
Among the things I found myself having mixed opinions about were the direction by Tim Burton and the screenplay by John August.
On the positive side of it, I could tell that Burton and August were obviously quite passionate about the project. When it came to creating the film as a faithful adaption to the book with touches of a filmmaker’s creative flair on the side, the two of them definitely didn’t mess around. The film’s newly-found exploration on Willy Wonka was especially fascinating, and so were the themes it had about family and love.
However, Burton’s direction overall seemed to make everything creepy and weird more than anything else, and despite its efforts to be as emotionally compelling as possible...the film wasn’t the most soul-tugging. The comedy it had wasn’t very great either, largely because the jokes seemed rather flatly executed. Along with that, the film felt too straightforward and quick in many ways, and it hardly carried much complexity despite the efforts of the filmmakers.
The music by Danny Elfman wasn’t the most outstanding, if I may add. I liked that he was at least trying his best, and he did a brilliant job at getting emotionally invested. But, in contrast to many of his other works, such as Sam Raimi’s first and second Spider-Man films, Elfman’s music didn’t seem to carry enough resonance, and it felt like he was hardly pushing the envelope. The songs sung by the Oompa-Loompas and “Wonka’s Welcome Song” were particularly annoying, mainly because of how irritating the singing sounded and how off-tune the melodies were.
But, in spite of the mixed feelings I’ve expressed just now, I’m proud to say that the performances of the cast, casting, characters, and character development were able to save the day.
Just like the performers in the original film, the cast members fit their parts like a glove and gave their characters perfect personality. I particularly admired how into it everyone appeared to be, portraying their characters to where they seemed so real. For instance, Johnny Depp did a marvelous job at making his portrayal and characterization of Willy Wonka as unique and different from Gene Wilder’s version as possible, and he gave the character an added sense of something extraordinarily human. He may not have given one of his best portrayals, but his creativity and abilities as an actor shined perfectly throughout the movie.
In the end, however, the film turned out to be one that I hoped I would enjoy more than anything, but...compared to the 1971 adaption, it’s not as great as I expected it to be. It’s intriguing, and the cast was great. But, the film seemed too overly bizarre for its own good, and it wasn’t the most fun film I ever watched.
So, I rate “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)” three out of five stars.
To be honest, I love this film. I'm a fan of Tim Burton's directing, and I love how the writers matched the novel adaptation. And, yes, I'm aware of its flaws, but just like the Star Wars prequels, I didn't mind them.
Honestly, that's just Burton being Burton.
Ah well. At least we can all agree that the music is absolutely outsta–
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5240619
I...take it you didn’t like this review.
5240627
I...severely disagree with your assessment on the film's soundtrack. But other than that, I mostly agree. I like it as it's own thing, and I kinda like Burton's weird, kooky style, but it's not as good as the 70's movie, and Gene Wilder beats Johnny Depp any day of the week.
But, seriously, the music is probably my favorite part of the whole thing. Contrary to what you stated, it sounded like Danny was having a field day with this one. I could listen to the opening credits all ding-dong day. Also, the song lyrics are actually directly lifted from the original novel, so it's got that going for it.
On a side note, I'm actually drafting up notes for when you inevitably review Star Trek V. Is it a bad thing that I'm actually prepping in advance for that?
I don't know. I've only read a fanfiction based on the 70s movie, but I think the 70s movie was missing a lot of what I loved about the books. Wonka wasn't as much of a loon, and it didn't quite capture how tight Charlie and his family was. This movie got both those points right.
I felt this film was just as stellar as the 70s incarnation.
5240729
This one wasn't a loon either, though. He was just a manchild.
Also, didn't you say you've never actually seen the 70's film in full before? How exactly would you know for certain?
5240734
I did read a fanfiction that I'm assuming is just basically the whole 70s movie with Pinkie Pie as Charlie Bucket.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/438974/pinkie-the-candy-factory
5240729
I don’t know.
I thought the 70s film did a brilliant job at capturing the bond between Charlie and his family on a deeply emotional level compared to this movie here.
5240752
I'm confused as to why the 70s movie cut out Charlie's father. Also, did the 70s movie adapt the scene where Charlie shares his birthday present with his family? That scene was one of my favorite parts of the book. This movie adapted it quite well.
5240780
Good question.
Maybe they couldn’t find an important place or purpose for the character in that film.
5240780
Yeah, that's in this one.
Well done review my friend
5240780
I just realized something.
Perhaps a big reason for why Charlie’s father didn’t appear in the 70s version wasn’t just because they couldn’t find an important place flew him in the story, but because the filmmakers thought it would add to the struggles Charlie and his family are going through and would help the audience sympathize for them more.
One of Tim Burton's finest masterpieces. I remember eating a Wonka Bar many years ago.
I remember almost laughing like a toddler at Johnny Depp's performance as Willy Wonka. The facial expressions and the way he acts was just perfect.