I was recently reading a broadsheet review on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was discussing the similarities between Wonka and Wacko (Michael Jackson): ’’both soft spoken, pale faced weirdos who lure children to their magical kingdom, with the difference being that Wonka hates children.’’ (These were the exact words used by the writer). I found this particularly hilarious, which resulted in me hysterically laughing in the middle of a silent library...and getting thrown out.
I have grown up reading Roald Dahl books, I have been one of his biggest fans. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has to be one of his best books, loved by children all over the world because it holds everything he/she would want to have, and leaves a feeling that wonderful things could happen to anyone unexpectedly so not to lose hope.
Watching the previous film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which although did not do the book justice, was still a very good film and greatly entertaining, I was tempted to watch this one. After all we do live in a modern society, where anything can be made possible, so I thought that this film would portray the magical world of chocolate even better than the first.
But again...I was wrong.
Story
The film starts by showing us exactly how a bar of Willy Wonka’s chocolate is made, which I thought was a very good idea as it focuses on the main topic of the film immediately. Later, we are introduced to Charlie Bucket, with his father and mother, and all of his grandparents. They are a very poor family (but still manage to live in a two storey house), who have to have cabbage soup every night because of their poverty, and can’t afford to sleep in proper beds. Charlie lives very close to Willy Wonka’s factory and looks at it longingly every time he passes it.
During dinner, the family have a conversation on Willy Wonka’s factory, where the strongest grandparent Grandpa Joe used to work. Grandpa Joe tells Charlie of the factory where all dreams can come true, whose owner was so clever that he made a temple out of chocolate for an Indian Raja but it managed to melt in the heat (well then he can’t have been clever.) The factory was world renowned but then Wonka found out that he had a traitor working for him, who revealed all of his chocolatey secrets, so he closed the factory.
But then, the next day an astonishing piece of news comes that shakes the whole world: Willy Wonka has started producing chocolate again, and he has hidden five golden tickets in five of his chocolate bars, which will allow five lucky people to visit his amazing factory. Day by day, the number of tickets available decrease until there is just one. The four winners so far are Veruca Salt, the spoilt brat, Augustus Gloop, the obese one, Violet something, who chews gum continuously and Mike TV, who lives up to his name. And guess who gets the fifth one? Charlie.
The big day finally comes and we are introduced to Willy Wonka. In the book, he is portrayed as a mysterious but still charming character, however in this, he appears to be a raving lunatic, who’s mission is to harm four of the five children in some way. The other children come accompanied by their parents, whilst Charlie is the only one with Grandpa Joe. Throughout the day, we are shown a garden made from sweets and chocolate, a chocolate waterfall, a cow being whipped for whipped cream, a dinner chewing gum, a chocolate boat and oompa loompas, who are Willy Wonka’s assistants. Throughout the day, something happens to all of the children who are supposedly meant to be disobedient, until there is only Charlie and Grandpa Joe left with Wonka.
The ending of the film is completely different to the book, so I won’t spoil any of them for you but I think that the film completely messed up the book. The book was supposed to have a moral, telling you to always do as instructed or you will regret it, however the film seems to give a completely different moral. All of the exciting children suffer, whilst the actor playing Charlie does not seems to like chocolate at all, and stands there quiet as a mouse, being a little chamcho with not an ounce of life in him. And Willy Wonka is supposed to be loved by the audience, however I think we were all slightly scared of him. So who are the villains now?
Characters
Wonka: Played by Johnny Depp. Johnny is a lovely actor, who has both great acting qualities and looks but in this film he looked...ugly and scary. He had too much over-acting and this made his character more domineering than funny and loveable. I think this spoilt the film completely because one of the protagonists is Wonka and it is important to get his role right.
Charlie: Freddie Highmore. This actor did not really show that he had much interest in chocolate aside from when he ate some, and then a greedy look came on his face. I think if Tim Burton had made this character slightly more exciting then we would have appreciated him more.
Violet, Veruca, Augustus, Mike: I don’t know the names of these actors and actresses but I have to say that they were the best. Their characters were very believable and added much amusement to the film. I think these children captured their roles perfectly.
Oompa Loompas: As above, I dont know the names of the characters but the oompa loompas rocked the film. Their cute little cat suits with their little funky songs throughout the film made it worth watching. I think that Tim Burton portrayed the Oompas in the best way possible and made them loved by all.
Direction
I think that the chocolate factory was merely passable as ’amazing’, however there were some extraordinary scenes such as the one with over a hundred squirrels cracking nuts and the chocolate waterfall. I also liked the way the oompah loompas were shown.
The costumes for the characters were set as if in traditional times, which is understandable, considering the book was written around 50 years ago. I think the costumes suited each character perfectly.
The choreography of the Oompa’s was great. They moved to different types of music: rock, techno, hip hop in a perfect way which made them stand out in the film.
Overall
I think that you should only watch this movie for time pass and nothing else. It isn’t as good as the first, but still has the ability to entertain us with short one liners and the oompah loompas. I didn’t get completely bored in this film. however it didn’t do the book justice.
And after all, you could just watch it to see how Tim Burton has marred Johnny Depp’s good looks :-(
Don’t forget to RRC...:-)