Saturday night I ended up at a very strange screening for the latest Tim Burton epic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Strange because it was completely sold to the rafters, and the audience was this twisted mix of suburban parents with their kids (most of whom could have been in the movie as Augustus Gloop, Violet, Veruca, or Mike TeaVee) and hardcore Burton fans (odd mix of Goth clothes and NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS accessories courtesy of the nearest Hot Topic). Thankfully the movie started, and most of them were pretty quiet throughout the whole thing.

I began to think about the old version which was not faithful to the book at all, but had definitely left its imprint. 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was not a huge hit when it was released originally. It was only after endless years of being a staple on television did the under-achiever at the box office become a cult classic and childhood favorite. The original author Dahl had submitted a screenplay for the movie, but it was rewritten by quite a few hands. Sammy Davis Jr. had been tapped to play the man in the candy store who sang "The Candy Man" song, but at the last minute producers thought it was too corny and they replaced him. I've heard the author of the book was quite upset by many of the changes, and heard that Burton sought to rectify this with his remake.

Burton does play it close to the source novel, even going so far as to keep the lyrics to the Oompa-Loompa songs as direct quotes from the book. But he certainly adds his own touches, and even a few subplots of his own including an origin story for Wonka complete with creepy dentist father played by the required actor of EVERY Summer blockbuster - Christopher Lee. We are also treated to the "Burton's current woman MUST appear in the movie" with Helena Bonham Carter showing up as Charlie's dentally challenged mum. And of course the entire movie looks like it sprang straight out of Burton's head. Impressive set design and gorgeous cinematography are de rigeur for his films, although I noticed the creepy inhuman bleaching he seems to do to keep people's faces looking surreal. This is Burton's movie and he writes the rules - methinks maybe he has more than a little in common with a Mr. Willy Wonka than he would care to admit.

Johnny Depp plays the role very well - ignore Roger Ebert's poo-pooing his take on the character. He's wrong! Depp is wonky and wonderful even if he does remind everyone of Michael Jackson. I'm not buying this whole "it was accidental" line. Oh yeah, I wore gloves, adopted a feminine voice, bleached out my skin tone, and invited children into a child's fantasy built by an adult... and Jackson never crossed my mind. Right! But no matter because he infuses a healthy dose of Howard Hughes and '70s Glam Rock icons in there to mix it all up. I liked him, and I thought all this back and forth with him and Gene Wilder was all for nothing. The two have nothing in common, and the tones are 180 degrees from each other. Polar opposites if you will! They could not be more different.

The movie itself is eye candy of the highest order. Quirky and kooky even when we're not in the infamous chocolate factory of the title. It's definitely worth seeing on the big screen (IMAX if you can find it!). Basically the bigger the better because this one's all about the visuals. Emotionally I don't think it quite matched the original movie's dramatics even with the positive changes like making Charlie and Gramps not do anything "bad" like when they drank the "Fizzy Lift" soda. It seems a little too cool, a little too cynical to be as emotional. But that is part of Burton's allure as a filmmaker. He makes the world his own, and he pushes aside anything he can't handle. He's a visual savant, not a master of the dramatic (though Edward Scissorhands has one of the most beautiful emotionally rich centers in it). Ironically this one's all about the candy. It's the dark chocolate edition as compared with the 70s more milky one.