Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) (***)

Genre – Fantasy

This is probably the first ‘complete’ book i remember reading. Roald Dahl still is one of my favourite writers- other than “Charlie and ..”, i havebeen that big a fan of his other books like “James and the Giant Peach”, “Danny and something-i-don’t-remember-but-which-is-good-nevertheless“. It is indeed a pity he is better known for his screenplay for ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ than these books. So it was with great curiosity that i approached this movie. The director being Tim Burton , i had prepared myself for a darker version of the book. The direction was spot on, with the visual effects, the chocolate waterfalls and the Oompa-Loompas living up to my expectation. But still the movie was cold because it ended up being targeted at the wrong audience- i doubt 7-9 yr olds really care about WHY Willy Wonka is so eccentric, as long as he is enjoyable. The movie should had ended some 20 minutes before it actually did, the way Roald Dahl ended the book. Johnny Depp was, well, Johnny Depp- thoroughly entertaining, into the character and a pleasure to watch. Charlie and his family was extremely well portrayed- the other kids though fell short of the extreme caricature Dahl so efficiently painted. A pity really, because the film had great potential to become a fantastic one, instead of being one which will probably be forgotten by the next decade.