Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (HD DVD)
The running time is 1 hr. 55 mins..
Burton's Chocolate Factory is said to be a closer adaptation to the popular Roald Dahl novel of which both films were made, and while it is widely known that Dahl despised the first film and stormed off the production only to leave the script in the hands of David Seltzer, I much prefer the 1971 version with Gene Wilder as Wonka to this cluttered mess.
If you are unaware of the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory it follows two lives. The first, Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) as he and his family live in extreme poverty. Along with Charlie and his parents you have Grandpa Joe, Grandma Georgina, Grandma Josephine and the outspoken Grandpa George all packed into a house with holes in the roof among several other problems.
Just down the road from the Buckets lies the Chocolate Factory run by the eccentric Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp). The factory has been closed off to the public for several years, but Wonka has begun a competition in which five young children and a family member will be invited to tour the factory and the way to get in is to secure a Golden Ticket, five of which are hidden in chocolate bars all over the world. Following an extensive search Charlie becomes one of the winners along with four others and the madness begins. In the original 1971 this is where the film got good. In Burton's version it is where it falls apart.
Johnny Depp is a fantastic actor; easily one of my top five favs, but his creepy, Michael Jackson-esque, portrayal of Wonka is skin-crawling. He would be better suited as a pedophile or committed to an insane asylum. Instead he is allowed to roam free, guiding us through his magical chocolate factory that is so poorly constructed it makes the 1971 version look almost high-tech. The sets look cheap; it's as simple as that. Next we come to the curious Oompa Loompas, you know the orange guys with the green hair and white overalls, well, that isn't what you get here. Instead Burton took mini-man actor Deep Roy and duplicated his performance several times over to create an army of Oompas that all look the same. An interesting tactic, but it is distracting and poorly conceived as all of the Oompas musical numbers can hardly be understood and the lip-synching never seems to match up. Oh yeah, and those cool little outfits, yeah, they have been replaced by high-tech garb not even worthy of further mention.
Burton made no secret that he had not seen the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and that this version, penned by John August, was a closer match to the Dahl story. I read this book so long ago I can't remember what is what, but I do know that films should take creative liberties where necessary to spice things up. However, when those liberties involve cheap sets and a lead actor that would scare just about anyone the liberties need to be dialed back. After rewatching the original feature I realized how good Wilder was with his Wonka in comparison.
As for this HD DVD, the real reason you are here, the only reason I carried on so long was due to the fact that I had not really covered the film all that much when I reviewed the Deluxe Edition DVD released almost a year ago, a DVD in fact where you will find the majority of the special features on this HD DVD. However, there are some new features we should talk about, if you want more on the others click here.
First off we have an audio only track that features Danny Elfman's. The feature is presented in Dolby TrueHD, which is great for those that liked it, however I did not. Not only was Elfman's music annoying so were the accompanying musical pieces which I mentioned earlier, primarily due to the overpowering nature of the music itself. Understanding the lyrics becomes a chore in and of itself.
Next we have a Tim Burton audio commentary; a feature I have finally come to realize is a waste of time anytime the words Tim, Burton and commentary come together. Burton is a major bore on all of the commentaries I have ever listened to him on and this one is no exception.
Finally, the feature that is actually worth the mention although it is a bit chaotic and a lot of it is unnecessary. The Warner "In-Movie Experience" exclusive to their HD DVD line of videos. This time they have gone beyond just the picture-in-picture. This time we have pop-up Oompas, pop-up trivia and an oversized, bulbous Wonka-style TV thing that covers the right hand side of the picture to give us the picture-in-picture. My reaction to the feature is a bit mixed. It was interesting, but to call it annoying is an understatement. I will say I chuckled the first few times an Oompa popped up for no reason, but after a while listening to Tim Burton spew his dry monologue and the little pop-up goodies begin to make you feel like you should be in the insane asylum with Wonka.
Of course with HD DVDs we have to cover the picture and the audio. In terms of audio the movie sounds great. This disc comes with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and the much sought after Dolby TrueHD. You really can't go wrong with either audio format it really is a matter of preference. As for the video it is a bit of an oddity with this film primarily because it is so clear. By this I am talking about the makeup work in this film. Each character besides Charlie and the parents is just slathered in makeup, which is then looks to be digitally touched up to make all the kids look almost porcelain. However, for Wonka it looks as if this technique wasn't used on Depp and the clarity of the picture brings out every little make-up bump and bristle. It is a bit distracting in the close-up shots. Besides that the numerous amounts of color used in the film pop off the screen and the transfer is quite impressive in that regard.
On a movie level Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for lack of a better word, sucks. I could also call it dumb, boring and predictable. To go along with that sentiment I also don't think it is a film kids will enjoy all that much. Of course this is a personal opinion and considering I have no kids you might completely disregard it, but then again why are you reading my opinion if you are going to disregard it?
I can't recommend you buy this flick if you have not seen it yet, it is definitely a rent before you buy because it is not a film that lends itself to numerous viewings. The special features carried over from the DVD are good ones, but the new HD exclusive features aren't exactly all they are cracked up to be. I am going to have to give this one a reject stamp and toss it out with the bad golden eggs and you should too.