Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - 6

I had intended to avoid this film, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually liked it. I didn't really like the older version I saw as a kid, and Tim Burton is not on my list of favorite directors, although he is climbing the list with this film. I am not a Roald Dahl expert, so the arguments about who stayed closer to the original vision has no interest to me. I do think that this version was able to pull off the craziness and other worldliness that Dahl is famous for in his books. Johnny Depp plays the crazy and eccentric Wonka perfectly. AnnaSophia Robb (Because of Winn-Dixie) is also pretty good and if she chooses film right will be the next Natalie Portman. Danny Elfman's work doing the music and voices for all the Oompa-Loompas is also well done, and doesn't take over the film, which would have ruined it for me. The moral of the story being that family is important and may require sacrifice works well and comes across as not overly done as to make it cheesy.