For those who have been absent from the world of pop
culture, the film follows eccentric candy-maker Willy Wonka (Johnny
Depp)
and Charlie Bucket (the brilliant Freddie Highmore), a good-hearted boy
from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka’s
extraordinary factory. Long isolated from his own
family,
Wonka launches a worldwide contest to select an heir to his candy
empire. Five lucky children, including Charlie, draw Golden Tickets
from Wonka chocolate bars and win a guided tour of the legendary
candy-making facility that no outsider has seen in 15 years. Dazzled by
one amazing sight after another, Charlie is drawn into
Wonka’s
fantastic world in this astonishing and enduring story. On
paper, this film is a dream: a top notch cast, an unbelievable
sized budget and Tim Burton in a toned genre he has well and truly made
his own over the last decade. Those hoping for the same
heartwarming and endearing qualities that the original left you with -
don't bother. However, what is left is something completely
dark,
unnerving and off the wall - which captures exactly what Dahl
portrayed in the original novel. In fact,
it would be
interesting to know how the late Roald Dahl would have reacted to this
latest adaption. Requested in his last will and testament,
Dahl
made specific instructions that the rights to the Wonka follow
up Willy Wonka and the Great Glass Elevator
would never be sold.
Surprisingly, Dahl was one of the few people who hated the original
'70s adaption claiming it destroyed his original intention and vision. Without
sugar coating it, this film is alot of fun. Depp's
performance is
so vastly different to Wilder's subtly dark
interpretation of the character, it does take a while to warm to the
cold hearted, creepy and isolated new Wonka. However, once you
do, Depp
is a delight. The films only major
downfall is perhaps
it's over-use of obvious computer graphics. The 1970's film used all
in-camera effects and sets which created such a magical and realistic
world for the children watching. Even now, it still makes
such an
unbelievable idea so realistic - which Burton fails to do with CGI that
will no doubt be outdated before the year ends, and ultimately
robbing this new interpretation of a possible "future classic" title. Good,
but not great. Sweet, but not sour. In short - one oompa short
of a loompa. DVD
Extras If
the movie dissapoints you, Roadshow have more than made up for it by
releasing a 2-Disc "Special Edition" as well as a 3 Disc "Deluxe
Edition". Take a breath before reading this out loud:  CD Soundtrack
Theatrical Trailer Chocolate Dreams: Tim
Burton's vision for the film and how he adapted the story Different Faces, Different
Flavors: Meet the actors and learn about the characters they play Designer Chocolate:
Learn about the film's production design Under the Wrapper:
Go behind the scenes to see how the film's special effects were created Sweet Sounds: Watch
the 4 Oompa-Loompa songs by composer Danny Elfman Attack of the Squirrels: See
how real squirrels were trained to perform in the film Fantastic Mr. Dahl:
Roald Dahl's life story and extraordinary body of work Becoming Oompa-Loompa: See
how one actor was turned into a talented army of Oompas DVD Menu Challenge -
Oompa-Loompa Dance DVD Menu Challenge
- The Inventing Machine DVD Menu Challenge
- The Bad Nut DVD Menu
Challenge - Search For the Golden Ticket Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory PC game demo and web links (DVD-ROM) Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 85% 
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