Right from the beginning, you can tell that this is different from the 1971 classic, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In fact, it's actually more reminiscent of the 1989 version of Batman because of director Tim Burton's influence. That's not entirely a bad thing. Batman was a classic in its own right.
But this telling quickly diverges from the 1971 version while at times remaining faithful to that wonderful tale. If you've seen that one (and most of us have), you'll recognize it just about everywhere. And while I'm a fan of Johnny Depp, let's face it - he's no Gene Wilder.
Burton's taste for the bizarre comes through in stellar fashion, and for the most part it works, but rather than Wilder's childlike sense of wonder in the original, we get a bizarre psychosis here, and it where the original worked wonders, it just doesn't work here at all.
The basic premise is intact - Willy Wonka (Depp) has decided that he shall emerge from years of self-imposed exile, and do so in glorious fashion. He announces a contest whereby he will issue golden tickets that can be found in only one place - his very own Wonka bars. Those who are lucky enough to get a ticket will win a tour of the factory that was closed abruptly many years before.
Naturally this spurs a run on the candy worldwide, and it seems that only those rich enough to afford masses of them stand any chance of getting a ticket, and the tour of a lifetime. Enter Charlie, a down-on-life lad who lives with his family in a shack on the edge of town. In the original (and the book, I believe), it was only with his four grandparents. But here, he lives with his parents too.
One day he manages to find a coin and happens into a shipment of Wonka bars, and what do you know - he gets a Golden Ticket. Of course no one believes him, as they were all supposed to have been found. But then it's determined that one of the winners had faked their ticket, and sure enough, Charlie's in.
That begins the adventure, and Charlie and the other children get to meet the demented candy maker and find out just what it is that makes his candy so good. As it turns out, the thing that makes his candy so good is that he's a raving lunatic and he has small-sized beings called Oompa-Loompas to help him in the process. Along the tour, the other kids get knocked out for being too greedy or too antsy or just plain dumb. That leaves Charlie, and boy does he win the big prize. He gets the whole factory!
It's not that this movie is bad, exactly. The problem is that the sense of wonder that permeated the very being of the 1971 movie doesn't make it into this one. It actually seems as if it may in the very beginning, but it is quickly lost as none of the intrigue makes it into the movie. It's as if the entire tale revolves around Wonka's horrible childhood and how he's taking it out on these kids.
While normally I'm against the Hollywood formula, in this case it was a winner and it's been turned into mush of the worst kind - mush that makes no sense at all. It just rambles from one scene to the next with almost no sense of purpose other than to try and capitalize on the memory of the original.
Rated PG for quirky situations, action and mild language, but some of it is downright disturbing, especially for younger kids. Consider a scene that's almost like a ride at theme park, and the pyrotechnics suddenly cause the tiny cherubs to burst into flames. Then there is Depp's oddly offbeat chocolatier. It's just not quite enjoyable, and younger kids especially probably won't know what to make of it.
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