Last night, I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my friend Lou. I’m generally quite sceptical about remakes regardless of genre, time between films, persons involved, etc etc – with the exception of Starsky and Hutch (which I loved) and possibly the forthcoming Dukes of Hazzard (and there will be only one reason to see that one).
But Charlie and the Chocolate Factory joins that very prestigious (and very short) list. Tim Burton has managed to sign it with his trademark sinister side, while maintaining the magic of the original. Jonny Depp is somewhere between Dr. Evil and Michael Jackson (and a bit nasty at times), and Freddie Highmore is a brilliantly cheeky Charlie Bucket without being fucking annoying. And what’s more, my dad just rang to say he thought I used to look like Charlie.