Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Rating: ****/*****, or 8/10

One of Tim Burton's finest and most underrated films, based on the equally great book by Roald Dahl. Poor Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) is in for a major change in his life when he finds a coveted Golden Ticket in a chocolate bar, which allows him and his grandfather (David Kelly) to visit the grand chocolate factory run by the mysterious hermit Willy Wonka (another wacky character performed with the necessary flair and theatricality by Johnny Depp, in his fourth collaboration with Burton). Together with four other lucky kids, each with his/her own unique depraved character defect (making them generally unsympathetic little bastards), and their equally abhorring parents, young Charlie is in for the ride of his life when he's confronted with the dazzlingly delightful wonders of Wonka's works in a vast array of mouth-watering scenes of candy fantasy. However, the factory has its dark sides too, as the nasty kids soon discover when their flaws get the better of them, leading them to their so deserved doom. Burton's Gothic visual style and witty sense of dark irony lend themselves perfectly for adapting Dahl's chocolate fairy tale to the big screen, with fabulous results. Includes some excellent and memorable songs performed by the Oompa-Loompas, a race of Lilliputians from a far-off land in Wonka's employ, as well as a wicked bit part for the brilliant Christopher Lee as Wonka's dentist father, adding a bit of depth to the character of this amazing but obviously mentally unstable chocolateer.

Starring: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly

Directed by Tim Burton

USA: Warner Bros, 2005