Plot: What’s it about?
Ah…the remake. It’s standard operating procedure in Hollywood these days. That’s not to say that Tinsel Town can’t churn out a few decent movies a year, but it seems that they’re looking backwards to proceed forwards. That aside, Tim Burton has once again teamed with frequent star Johnny Depp to remake a family classic – “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Obviously the title has been changed from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” but the story and characters are all the same. Burton’s dark cinematic view is shown and with the story being just a bit off (and on the dark side), it gave Depp plenty of room to have fun with the eccentric Willy Wonka character. The movie is among the more popular to come around, I’m speaking of the predecessor naturally – and with Burton’s own “Batman” being re-made; it was his turn to flip through the Warner catalog and remake something. As it turns out, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was it. Did it work? Will Johnny Depp finally win an Oscar? But better yet, is it entertaining?
The answers to two of the above questions is “Yes” and I highly doubt that Depp will win an Oscar for playing Willy Wonka. Yes, he’s good but he wasn’t that good. For those that are familiar with the story, it hasn’t changed much. Willy Wonka (Depp) has decided to look for an heir to his throne and has placed five golden tickets randomly in his chocolate bars. It’s the biggest news in the world (which begs the question: what world are they living in?) and as the tickets are discovered, they make headlines. The five children are various levels on the “Brat” scale. There’s Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz) whose gluttony is his way of life. Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) is the daughter of a wealthy businessman, she found her ticket because her father bought hundreds of thousands of bars. Mike TeaVee (Jordan Fry) cracked the code in the system and “only needed to buy one bar”. Violet (Annasophia Robb) is a champion gum-chewer and a self-proclaimed “winner”. This leaves us with Charlie (Freddie Highmore), the poor kid who found some money in the street and used it to buy a chocolate bar – thus gaining him entry into the contest. Ok, that aside we know what to expect. Plenty of Burton’s imagination, wacky Oompa Lumpa songs and the search for the next Willy Wonka.
Fans of the original will be very familiar with the storyline; it’s nearly identical to the original, but updated with a more unique flair. I found myself comparing the two versions and though I liked this remake, I think I still prefer the original. Gene Wilder brought certain chemistry to the Wonka role and Depp does as well, though in a different way. Depp is just peculiar enough to pull off a role like this and I’m pleased to say that it does work. I find that I’m running out of things to say here…the Oompas don’t look exactly what they looked like in the original, instead they appear to be clones of one man who portrays several roles in the movie. “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” will no doubt entertain, but if I had my choice – I’d stick with the original version.
Video: How does it look?
The disc contains three 5.1 EX tracks (English, Spanish and French) and though I only listened to the English, it sounded amazing. The interior of the factory has things in every scene that ignites every speaker on more than one occasion. I found most of the audio to be contained to the front three channels, but on many occasions the ambiance was very satisfying. Dialogue was clean and natural as well. This is a very good-sounding track and the EX makes it even more so.
Audio: How does it sound?
Visually speaking, the movie is off the scale. Burton’s team has put together one heck of a good-looking set that’s sure to garner some Academy Awards next year. I was a bit disappointed at the 1.85:1 ratio of the movie, I would have preferred the wider 2.35:1 ratio, but I’m not the director. The transfer is nearly flawless with Depp’s somewhat androgynous character looking more porcelain than human. Nevertheless, the anamorphic image is devoid of errors, making for a great visual experience.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Warner has two versions of this movie out, a two-disc special edition, a widescreen version and a full-frame version. This is the widescreen version. Only a few supplements are shown, in featurette form. “Becoming Oompa-Loompa: How Did They Turn One Man into Thousands of Oompa-Loompas?!?” is pretty self-explanatory and a “Dance Machine Challenge” with the Oompa Lompas. These are aimed more at the children and once we get our hands on the two-disc version, I’ll amend this review. For only a few dollars more I’d recommend the two-disc, if anything it’ll keep the children occupied for that much longer.
