I love 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.' But really, doesn't everyone?

Seriously, the 1971 Mel Stuart version starring the late Gene Wilder seems to be one of those movies that might get its share of flack, but at the end of the day, it is just so beloved and charming that you rarely find anyone who flat out hates it. Then you start talking about the 2005 remake from Tim Burton...and opinions start to get a bit more varied.

Despite an endorsement from Roald Dahl's family, a fairly positive reception at the time of release (by Rotten Tomatoes standards, it's not even in his 10 worst) and even Costume Design nomination at the Oscars, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' represents, at best, a misguided experiment for a lot of audiences.

Sure, it may have been more faithful to Dahl's source material, but it was all over the place tonally, lost the magical whimsy of the original, and the less said about Johnny Depp DARING to fill Gene Wilder's shoes the better.

When I first saw the film, I remember it feeling distinctly "off" from the original, but I don't remember vividly hating anything about it, even Depp's take on the character. As such, I was curious to revisit the film for its fifteen-year anniversary if for no other reason than to see if I had more of a proper reaction to it.

Well, a reaction I certainly had, up to the point where I feel pretty conflicted trying to pinpoint where I stand on it. 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is bonkers, bringing the weird, otherworldly tendencies of the original film to an extreme degree (even for Tim Burton standards). Yet, by the time it ended, I kind of had to sit back and admire it for what it was, trying to be a bit more modern, complex, and at times more dread-inducing than anything the original could ever hope to bring up. It's not an easy film to love, and I'll certainly concede that it might have been too drastic a shift, but it also warrants its own existence and I can respect that.

Charlie Bucket (played by Freddie Highmore) is a young, average kid living with his family who struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis. They live near the famous Wonka Chocolate Factory, owned by the world-renowned candy maker, Willy Wonka (played by Johnny Depp). Years ago, the factory closed its doors to the public due to attempts to steal Wonka's recipes, resulting in numerous job losses, including Charlie's Grandpa Joe (played by David Kelly).

Seemingly out of nowhere, Wonka issues a statement to the world: he has hidden golden tickets inside of five random candy bars and whoever finds golden tickets will be allowed to visit his factory with a guest of their choice. Four of the tickets are eventually found by children from around the world: Augustus Gloop (played by Phillip Wiegratz), Veruca Salt (played by Julia Winter), Violet Beauregarde (played by AnnaSophia Robb) and Mike Teavee (played by Jordan Fry). But Charlie seems to have luck on his side, finding the last golden ticket at a local candy shop and opting to take Grandpa Joe as his guest.

The two of them, along with the other children and their parents, are welcomed by Wonka, who has been relatively cut off from the world aside from his workers, the Oompa-Loompas (played by Deep Roy). As Charlie and Grandpa Joe marvel at Wonka's new creations, they also inadvertently cause Wonka himself to peel back some of his own facades and reveal some of his past, including how he found the Oompa-Loompas and how he became the icon the world knows him as.

Burton's take on the source material has the same basic structure and throughline as the 1971 film, even if it is clouded from head to toe in the filmmaker's unique sense of style. To be fair, Burton doesn't sleepwalk through this and does a fair amount of work to make that tonal shift feel natural for the story.

The mix of gothic lighting and bright colors, the almost-rubbery camera tricks (courtesy of 'Big Fish' cinematographer Phillipe Rousselot), the prominent production designs, and, of course, plenty of Danny Elfman's trademark wobbly score. From a technical standpoint, Burton is absolutely making this his own, but he's also putting in the effort to develop this world and make it feel welcoming (albeit in its own twisted, awkward way).

On top of that, while it certainly might be the most divisive aspect of this moment, I actually don't hate Johnny Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka. I'm not necessarily sure we needed an entire backstory on him (yes I'm aware that the sequel book goes into those details) and some of Wonka's arc can feel weirdly misplaced in the story structure. That being said, I do give Depp credit in his attempts to pull out some of Wonka's more antisocial tendencies for a bit of a twist on the "mad genius" archetype.

It also helps that he has a great supporting cast to play off of; all of the child characters feel like solid (sometimes necessary) updates from 1971 version, but of course, it's Freddie Highmore as Charlie who has to have a lot of the focus. Even despite writing that can simplify the character a bit too much, Highmore has such a natural charm and kindness to him that he can make that simplicity work a lot more often than not.
(Also, I'm aware I've already recommended Depp and Highmore's work in 'Finding Neverland' in my 'Wendy' review, but seriously, go watch it, it's an excellent movie).

But as the film went on, I came to realize what might be the biggest obstacle in actually liking it; its lack of subtlety. From the very first shot, you can tell where the film is going, at least tonally (and storywise if you're familiar with the source material) and, as I mentioned earlier, Tim Burton feels fully in control of where that tone is going to take the narrative.

The problem is that it feels almost too focused on giving us something different. I hate to constantly refer to the original, but one of the reasons I feel it still gets discussed is because of its less than obvious elements. Sure, it's whimsical with great songs and life lessons, but there were always those darker, borderline horror undertones to it that could warrant speculation and dissection. As such, the weirdness in this version is both its greatest strength and weakness; it's unique, trippy, and off-the-wall, but if that's not enough for you, there's not going to be that much else beneath to have fun with.

Of course one could argue that Burton's consistency is at least worthy of praise, but that's assuming that you buy into that vision and there are more than a few problems I have with that kind of approach. From the underwhelming sense of depth that we get from Wonka's backstory to the aforementioned screenplay from John August that frankly can feel more jarring than any of the technical changes, the new approach can be cool, but far from perfect and certainly far from likable.

I may sound a bit inconclusive but, to put simply, I think I respect 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' a lot more than I actually enjoy it. Tim Burton's appreciation for the weirder, darker elements of the source material combine with his style quite well and result in some really unique and clever choices that keep the story going. The problems really come into play if you can't get behind that 180-spin from the original and, even if you can, it still has some issues that can stand out.

It doesn't have the sense of genuine charm that the 1971 film had, but I would still give a very tentative recommendation to check out this version. I really don't think its as cringy as it gets remembered and, for as odd as it can be, I think there's certainly a place for it, especially if you're a fan of Roald Dahl's source material.

Overall, I give 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' 6/10.

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