A Sweet Treat That Can't Be Beat

I am of course referring to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the film starring Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore that's based more closely to the original book by Roald Dahl than the well-known 1971 film (and very good, except for the "Cheer Up, Charlie" musical number) that starred Gene Wilder.

I don't know if I can say much about Charlie that hasn't been said already, but maybe there are a couple of things. First, I enjoyed the updates of Violet and Mike Teevee to a hyper-competitive child being lived through vicariously through her mother and a base little bugger addicted to video games and without an imagination, respectively. I also enjoyed the Oompa Loompa musical numbers, with their lyrics straight out of the book, and well-performed by a stone-faced Deep Roy as all of the Oompa-Loompas.

I also enjoyed the burning puppet children. They're key to understanding Willy Wonka -- he doesn't particularly care for children, and especially not for parents. He's such a recluse that he no longer seems to care for the company of non-Oompa Loompas, and he delights in the "accidents" that befall his guests (which have clearly been anticipated, at least, as the Oompa Loompas have a ready-made production number for each disaster -- a fact not lost on Charlie from the time Augustus Gloop gets sucked up the fudge pipe.).

All in all, a tour de force, and certainly the best movie yet in an otherwise dreary summer for movies.