Burton's Chocolate Factory a Treat

Could we expect anything less? The director that brought us The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach has outdone himself again with an extremely creative rendition of the 1971 classic. Though, he didn't accomplish this feat alone.

Inside the Movie...

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For better or worse, you *will* see the following in this movie:

• Deep Roy in yellow spandex involved in a display of 70s-style interpretive dance
  Remember this vertically-challenged actor from The Neverending Story?


• Disneyesque-Dancing-Figurine pyrotechics
  This is the only way I could think of to describe it... you'll know exactly what I'm talking about if you've seen the movie.


• A young boy *attempting* to eat chocolate wearing orthodonic braces that resemble a small-scale torture device.
  Maybe I'm morbid, but I was laughing my socks off.
  

What Works

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Director, Tim Burton, stimulates intellectually, creatively and aesthetically in this comic production that is so visually involved, the audience can almost taste the toothache from the screen. Not only should this film be advertised as color-stimulant gluttony, but Burton puts forward additional sensory overloads such as shiny objects and juicy candy dripping from a woman's open-mouthed grin that work delightfully.


Johnny Depp demonstrates his artistic versatility through his portrayal of the eccentric, hopelessly naive, reclusive and quirky Willa Wonka himself. Having high expectations going into the movie, I was pleasantly surprised with how tangibly Depp could present this completely unrealistic, fairytale-like character.


What Doesn't

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Listening to accent discrepancies proved annoying. While evident that Burton cast actors that undoubtedly fit the bill, its difficult to avoid feeling insulted at buying into a family of three generations living in the same house as a cohesive unit speaking English in dialects native to three different countries.


Yes, talents such as Freddie Highmore, Noah Taylor and David Kelly carry out the magnetic performances of little Charlie, father and grandfather Bucket. The unfortunate breakdown from this conglomeration is that these actors are collectively from: Great Britain, Australia and Ireland. In my opinion, Burton unnecessarily reminds us that these talents are just that: good actors and have no feasible means of existing in the Bucket family as Burton presents it... blech.

I'm not going to reveal anymore... Hopefully you're adequately enticed to see the film and judge for yourself.

-T.