Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 40 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 356 Ratings

  • Starring: David Kelly, Freddie Highmore, Johnny Depp
  • Summary: Acclaimed director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (Depp) and Charlie Bucket (Highmore), a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka's extraordinary factory. (Warner Bros.) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 40
  2. Negative: 1 out of 40
  1. A peach of a story delightfully imagined by Dahl and lushly realized by Burton. It's full of witty or awesome scenes, flights of fancy and characters either totally, lovably sweet or outrageously, humorously rotten.
  2. Here's a film about kids and for kids that has not lost touch with what it is like to actually be a kid.
  3. Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    60
    Neo-Gothic fantasist Tim Burton and writer John August (Big Fish) play it strictly by the book for this darker but far more faithful adaptation of Roald Dahl's cautionary 1964 young-adult novel.
  4. 30
    The satirical edge has been dulled in a film that is dominated, and ultimately swamped, by its star's mannered, pixilated performance.

See all 40 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 54 out of 196
  1. 10
    Tim Burton is a master at constructing brilliant and unique films that boggle the mind and defy all beliefs there films that deliver a bold new twist each time but what makes Burton a master is his attention and devotion to his story. The detail and meticulous design of the sets, the costumes, the atmosphere of his films and how they all in some strange way impart a certain message of sorts that has a bizarre connection to real life. Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation of Roald Dahl's beloved children book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" has a method to its madness and a meaning to its story. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is one of Burton's best films since Big Fish and Sleepy Hollow. Tim Burton's take on the legendary tale of eccentric chocolate maker Willy Wonka and young dreamer Charlie Bucket is a film of meticulous design, it is meant to be a children movie but "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" plays out better as a quirky adult fantasy adventure with a PG rating. Burton doesn't spare any detail he uses all his style and energy to create the bleak world of Charlie Bucket and all his imagination and light hearted enthusiasm to make the beautiful chocolate factory of Willy Wonka, it's astounding how it works, how it moves along flawlessly telling it's story and just wowing the audience in each and every scene. It is not a cheap exploitation flick with a famous name slapped on it it is a story about a person, a place and a situation that comes to be fall that person (Freddie Highmore). Burton has not only updated a classic story for a modern generation he has effectively made a film that is both true to his quirky style and mainstream enough for modern audiences, It's one of the best films of the last decade and also one of Burton's very best. The film only works whether you believe in what you are seeing; it succeeds on how you look at it if you look at it with a cynical point of view than this film will be a terrible time and a complete waste of money to you. However, if you keep your eyes open and your mind clear of any doubt than this film will work wonders on your soul, your imagination and your imagination. Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryâ Expand
  2. Johnny Depp realises Tim Burton's strange adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic in one of his finest acting performances. He brings the bizarre to a character who was originally enigmatic, a bold and successful move. Not to mention the funky Umpa Lumpa songs, much better than 'Doo pa dee doo'. I don't care what the parents say, I prefer this version! Expand
  3. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" adds up overwhelming creativity into the book based movie. The result is that the movie got drunk with chocolate.
  4. CaptanS.
    4
    One of the least inspiring movies of the last few years. Uncolorful, not charming and definitely not funny. Johnny Depp has to be one of the worst picks for this character, but honestly, why mess with "Willy Wonka" to begin with? Gene Wilder was amazing in the roll, charming and funny, but this ain't "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", mores the pity! Lifeless, uninspiring and bland! I give this one a 4 for the effects, but there's not much else to be excited about. Do yourselves a favor, go buy the original and let this one die a slow death. This review'll save 2 hrs. of your life that you will never get back! Expand

See all 196 User Reviews