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Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

In what is simply another of Hollywood’s high stakes, big budget and soulless remakes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory exudes the kind of over done decadence its title location produces. From the title screen it is apparent this film is going to attempt to be everything a Tim Burton film used to be: funny, ironic and filled with imaginative imagery. This time however, we are treated to nothing more than business as usual.

Here are all the Burton mainstays. Danny Elfman’s all too recognizable score, the crazy, slightly askew sets, and the completely superfluous back story that does nothing more than mutate a once whimsical figure into another man child who couldn’t reconcile with his father. And speaking of sets, these here have got to be the worst I have ever seen in a Burton film. Burton, a filmmaker who is only as strong as his set designers has here a travesty on his hands and is now teetering dangerously close to the precipice of the ordinary. The production value on this film was so low I thought I was watching something, “Shot, chopped and scored by Robert Rodriguez.” Star Johnny Depp isn’t even able to elevate this beyond a mild rubbernecking to see the train wreck he makes out of his own twisted imagination.

The DVD leaves a lot to be desired as well. Sticking with the new Hollywood mantra of, “More costs more,” if there is anyone wanting to know how they skimped on the sets, well there is a two-disc available as well. The two-disc set is shipped in lesser quantities much like Warner’s handling of Batman Begins so if you are looking to plunk down the extra change, you might have some looking to do.

Written by: Kevin Yeoman

Reviewers Rating: 4
Reader's Rating: 5.50
Reader's Votes: 4

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