Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I have made the decision not to include animated children's films in this run through of my movie collection. I have no desire to write about Thomas the tank engine films or Sesame Street so I am leaving them out. Sadly, I am also leaving out the Pixar films such as The Incredibles, Up, Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc., and Ratatouille, all of which I love, but watch occasionally with the kids upon their request. I am however going to leave in the live action kids films we own. This lead to 25 minutes of pure pain with Black Beauty and the joy of Tim Burton's unfairly maligned Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The film is an adaption of Roald Dahl's children's novel of the same name. It is also the subject of comparison's to another adaption of Dahl's book starring Gene Wilder and titled Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That film was made in 1971 and is considered a much beloved classic. And by comparison, some people seem to think Tim Burton's film is a mess by comparison.
Burton's work stars Johnny Depp as the enigmatic Willy Wonka, a chocolateer whose genius for candy allows him to make the most desirable candy the world has ever seen.
One day while pondering his mortality, Wonka realizes he needs an heir and decides to invite 5 children to his factory. Of the five children, the one who behaves best will be choosen by Wonka to be his heir. In pursuit of this honor are a fat kid, a spoiled kid, an over-achiever, a gamer and a poor kind child named Charlie Bucket. Charlie's family is extremely poor. They live in a shack that appears to be falling apart. They eat cabbage stew for dinner and Charlie's birthday present is a single Wonka bar and the hope that Charlie may find a golden ticket.
Burton's version gets hammered it seems because of the love people have for the Gene Wilder version. Listening to people compare the two films I sometimes get the sense that people are content to believe that Burton simply never should have tried to make his version. There is a "nothing is good enough" approach to those bashing this film, but I say ignore the rhetoric. I'll be writing about the Gene Wilder version in the future and I will give it it's proper due, but I did not grow up loving that one and I have no problem saying that Burton's version is truly worthy. Burton has always brought a unique style to his films and this one is no different. From the Bucket home to the many fantastic rooms inside the factory Burton has truly put his stamp on the material and Johnny Depp's contributions as Wonka are terrific. Depp finds a way to make each character he plays unique and this one is no different. Just because Wonka is eccentric does not mean Depp will simply give you more Jack Sparrow shtick. The rest of the cast is all terrific and provides a wonderful experience for it's audience. The comparisons may be unavoidable, but if you can get past any feelings you may have that the Gene Wilder film should never have been remade than I believe Tim Burton's version is fantastic.