Movie Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Rating: PG (for quirky situations, action, and mild language)

Recommended for: All Ages

What wonders await you in Willy Wonka's factory? Explore fields of soft minty sugar grass in the Chocolate Room...Sail along the the Chocolate River in a pink sugar boat...Experiment with Everlasting Gobstoppers in the Inventing Room...Observe talented squirrels in the Nut Room and travel to the Television Room by a glass elevator. You'll find a lot that's funny, a little that's mysterious...and an adventure as sweet and satisfying as a Wonka Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight bar. This dazzling film adapted from Roald Dahl's classic children's novel, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore, is your Golden Ticket to a world so inventive, so imaginative, you won't want to miss a delicious moment!

 I like the newer movie better than the old one because the new one is closer to the book. I remember being excited about this movie coming out and seeing pictures from their filming.

Technical: 4/5

 The Chocolate factory is amazing especially the Chocolate room. All the different kinds of candy look delicious. They were also able to do the chocolate palace, which looked realistic. The acting was done well and they all fit their characters' different personalities well. The story flows well even with a completely added storyline, where there are flashbacks. The funny thing is that they make fun of characters suddenly having flashbacks.

Setting: 4/5

  There are many places in this movie, the main place being the factory. The factory is all about candy and there is a chocolate river with a candy boat, an inventing room, and many other places that you just get glimpses of. It never says where Charlie lives but his house sticks out from everything else and is in terrible condition. Violet lives in Atlanta and the street that she lives on looked like it was in Atlanta. There are couple of other places such as a jungle. The Chocolate room is probably my favorite setting.

Plot:3/5

 There are things in this story that just don't make sense or are never explained but since it is a based on a Roald Dahl book, it is to be expected. The story is about a poor boy who tries to get one of the five golden tickets and go into the mysterious Chocolate factory. One of the children will win something big. There is a Willy Wonka backstory that is added and the very end is changed because of it. The end of the book leads right into the sequel, so the change is understandable. 

Characters: 4/5

 While they are not the most realistic, they are very interesting. Four of the children who got golden tickets are brats who get punished for their greedy behavior. Charlie is the only good child and his grandfather, who previously only laid in bed all day, is excited about the chance to see the factory and gets out of bed. Willy Wonka is a weird character who does not like his father and is surprised that Charlie likes his family more then candy.

 This is more of a fun movie and is one of Roald Dahl's better stories and I would recommend it.