Week 35: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

I never planned on watching this new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because I AM STILL HAVING FLASHBACKS FROM THAT TRIPPY GENE WILDER VERSION. Are you with me? That was weird, right? The seventies were a strange time, man.

And I only needed to see Johnny Depp’s creepy make-up job in the trailer to the 2005 version to make me want to steer very, very clear of this film. But on the other hand, I adore Tim Burton, so I was torn. Alas, it was playing on TV the other night so we relented, but I’m back to feeling torn again. Let’s review:

Positive: Very limited use of hippie-trippy graphics, although the dragon boat was borderline stupid. And much of the CGI looked incredibly cheap and fake, which is not a positive, but here it is nonetheless.

Negative: Johnny Depp is gray. Why is he gray? We do not know. It is not explained. I did not care for it. Also, Helena Bonham Carter has fake teeth for no apparent reason. Again, I did not care for it.

Positive: Watching the finders discover their Golden Tickets was great fun.

Negative: We all know the story to this film and Burton didn’t press too hard to expand it in new ways or offer many surprises. Nor did he give us much dark humor that I just expect from a Burton film. All in all, I felt like he was just phoning this one in.

Positive: All the scenes with Charlie’s family were completely adorable and filled with the quirky kitsch that I love in a Burton film.

Negative: Most of the movie takes place in the factory and not with Charlie’s family. Also, did I mention that Johnny Depp was gray?

My final tally? I’m pretty disappointed that Tim Burton didn’t give us a Tim Burton film, although the entire fact that we didn’t have to watch any rainbow hippie graphics is nearly enough for me.

My apologies to all of you who love the 1971 version, but I hate it.