Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is delicious joy.
Having now seen it twice to make sure I hadn't imagined it the first time, Tim Burton's new adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is his best film in over a decade, and ranks right up with the finest work he's ever done. It's a wonderfully weird, spellbinding phantasmagoria - spectacularly designed by Alex McDowell (who deserves an Oscar nomination), and populated by surreally vivid characters who look like moving Loretta Lux portraits. But more than all that, it is a surprisingly thoughtful and moving tale of destiny and karma - and remarkably faithful to the deliciously twisted book. The key is making Charlie the main character, and casting Finding Neverland's amazing Freddie Highmore in the role, though everyone else in the film is spot-on, as well. (Johnny Depp is, of course, daringly bizarre.) Danny Elfman's gleefully inspired music for the film is a particular treat, especially the five Oompa-Loompa songs for which Elfman provides all the vocals - four of which take their lyrics from Dahl's book. (The New York Times has an interesting article about this.)
This is a brilliantly delightful film (which thankfully and deservingly earned over $20 million yesterday). Highly recommended. (For more, I recommend reading ComingSoon.net's recent interview with Burton.)
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