Movie Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Chocolate rivers, glass elevators and a very strange (what's new?) Johnny Depp transport us into the twisted world of Willy Wonka.

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, young Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) plods along with as much cheer as possible considering that his family, mom (Helena Bonham Carter) and dad (Noah Taylor) and both sets of Charlie's grandparents all live in the same, tiny, run-down, leaning shack at the foot of the biggest candy factory in the world. When chocolatier Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) decides to invite five kids for a tour of his factory if they find the golden tickets he's placed in his candy bars, young Charlie is sure he'll have no luck.

Winners are snotty rich kid Veruka Salt (Julia Winter), porker chocoholic Agustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), bully TV addict Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), gum-chewing champion southern belle Violet (Annasophia Robb) and..finally Charlie! As the gang enters Wonka's wacky factory full of tiny worker Oompa Loompas (all duplicate CGI images of little person Deep Roy), the kids' greed and gluttony lead them to ruin and eventual expulsion from Wonka's twisted candyland...all except Charlie, the good, heart-of-gold kid whom Wonka decides to make his heir.

The twisted and brilliant humor of writer Roald Dahl's book is brought to colorful life by off-beat director Tim Burton and genius actor Johnny Depp. Depp's Wonka isn't much like Gene Wilder's (the 1971 film version Willy). Johnny's Wonka is quite mad and obviously has a dislike for most kids, especially brats. He looks like a dandy-dressed vampire with a very child-like voice and manner that both fascinates and repels. It's cool that, in flashbacks, we learn how Willy got so "Wonky"...as a brace-faced kid with an overbearing dentist dad (Christopher Lee) who wouldn't let him touch candy. The expressive Freddie Highmore is wonderful as wide-eyed Charlie.

Tim Burton and company do a great job of creating an ultra-bizarre and colorful world in which tiny squirrels shell nuts for candy and Oompa-Loompas do some awesome Broadway-style production send-off numbers with some fun songs (sung by composer Danny Elfman) and cute choreography as each kid meets his or her doom. There is something here for all ages. Older teens and adults will get the references to the films Psycho and 2001: A Space Odyssey and enjoy a blast to the past with the "oompah's" acid rocker show and Esther Williams synchronized swimming tribute. An early scene in which those annoying "Small World" type dolls burst into flame after singing a little welcome song sets the pace for the whole off-center film.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a sweet-and-sour ball of warped fun that teaches kids needed lessons about greed, snobbery and social misbehavior all chocolate-coated with great visuals and another off-center Johnny Depp performance that is disturbingly winning.

For an off-center, eye-popping adventure.. 4 out of 5 stars

Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.