Far more faithful on all fronts than the 1971 Gene Wilder adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel, WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY has all the elements of the book, right down to composer Danny Elfman scoring music to the rhymes spoken by the Oompa Loompa’s after each kid suffers their fate.
You know the story – starving kid wins one of five golden tickets to Willy Wonka’s factory and discovers a world of pure imagination. In the eyes of Tim Burton’s vision – and thanks to the wonders of CGI, which makes this sort of film perfect to adapt – the vision is incredibly broad and works pretty well.