Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Alas, Tim Burton's latest film is probably his most disappointing to date. Johnny Depp is at his most androgynous as the eccentric candy maker, Willy Wonka, who hides five golden tickets in bars of his chocolate to be won by five lucky children who will be escorted by him through his factory. Augustus Gloop is a German fat kid, Veruca Salt is a spoiled British brat, Violet Beauregarde is an overly-competitive gum chewer, Mike Teavee has been raised on one two many violent video games, and poor Charlie Bucket is a good natured, poor boy who can only afford to buy one candy bar per year. The film features some fine, Burton-esque imagery, and Alex McDowell's production design is a wonder to behold; however, Burton, while a master of production design and art direction, has not yet mastered the art of digital effects which are aplenty and not very convincing in this film. While the Oompa Loompa musical numbers are interesting if uninspired, I have a feeling that when Roald Dahl wrote the lyrics (and the story), I don't think he had disco or 80's metal in mind, though Danny Elfman doesn't seem to have a problem adapting them for such. Christopher Lee has a welcome supporting role as Willy Wonka's strict, dentist father (an addition not found in the orginal story). If I may get uncharacteristically structural for a moment, I believe John August's screenplay falls apart in the third act which drags on and is mostly unnecessary. Ultimately, I prefer the darker 1970's version, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory along with Gene Wilder's more mysterious, less creepy Willy Wonka. Plus I must deduct points for the use of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra which has been off limits since 1968, as well as for Burton's bastardization of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Psycho.