Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

I took Daniel to see Tim Burton’s latest film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). It was actually really good. The sets in this film are incredible and I immediately remembered Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events which creates an incredibly detailed fantasy land. It must be a phase that I’m going through but I kept thinking of how much work and money went into making such elaborate sets.

Johnny Depp is a great Willy Wonka. I think Ebert hits it on the head when he describes Depp’s character as a cross between Michael Jackson and Carol Burnett. I can’t think of another actor who is constantly reinventing themselves and taking chances like Depp has over the last 15 years—Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Sparrow.

Near the beginning of the film, my six-year-old son asked me if Willy Wonka was a boy or a girl. You have to see the film to appreciate this comment.

I thought the Oompa Loompa characters were funny after their first musical number but by the fourth I was a little tired of them. It reminded me of the Lemurs in Madagascar (2005). Been there. Seen that. The movie drags a little at some points (easy to notice when you’re six-year-old gets really restless).

There are a lot of funny moments in this film that are just weird, twisted and more adult than the kids will know.

Posted in Movie Reviews at 10:51 AM