BURTON, DEPP HIT SWEET SPOT.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

'CHARLIE and the Chocolate Factory'' is just plain sick.

Twisted and mean-spirited, too.

I had a great time.

The best weirdo tag-team working in Hollywood, director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp, squeeze every bit of perverse aroma out of Roald Dahl's disturbing tale about hermit confectioner Willy Wonka. As they've done before with ``Edward Scissorhands'' and ``Ed Wood,'' the Demented Duo work just enough forged innocence into the picture to make it seem like a nice, colorful children's fable. Of course, their main agenda is rummaging around in psychological closets whose doors probably should have been kept locked tight.

Nevertheless, it's entertaining to watch what oozes out. Depp comes off genuinely more unhinged - and more unlikably self-absorbed - than Gene Wilder did in the 1971 musical ``Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.'' In fact, this is the actor's second screen role in a row for which he's brought out his inner Michael Jackson (``Finding Neverland'' was the first). It's funny, richly imaginative and creepy all at once, and the subtly masked look Depp has assumed for the role - perfectly squared teeth, pupil-widening contacts, pasty white face makeup - complements the unnerving, immature personality perfectly.

There is much, much more to ``Charlie's'' look. From the literally tumbledown shack in which kid hero Charlie Bucket (Depp's ``Neverland'' co-star Freddie Highmore) lives with his poor but loving extended family to the sugar-spun yet industrially sterile spaces inside Wonka's massive, mysterious candy plant, Alex McDowell's production design is always slathered in kooky invention.

Charlie takes the tour of Wonka's off-limits facility with his loving Grandpa Joe (David Kelly from ``Waking Ned Devine''). The Buckets are sort of bland, it must be said, but the four other brats who won the worldwide competition for the special tour are enjoyably insufferable. It's a peculiarly sweet adult pleasure to watch spoiled Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) and her ilk learn Wonka's sadistic behavior-modification lessons.

And then there are the Oompa-Loompas, Wonka's cocoa-loving, miniature factory workers from an inhospitable tropical clime. They're all played by the same, remarkably poker-faced actor, Deep Roy, digitally shrunken and sometimes multiplied by the dozens. Roy and his computerized clones become their own visual motif, especially during ``Charlie's'' distinctive production numbers.

Yes, production numbers. Even though this movie is technically not a musical, Burton and his longtime composer Danny Elfman top ``Wonka'' in that department, too. Setting the chants from Dahl's book to four different song styles, they stage the Oompa-enabled punishments of each bad child as remarkably choreographed, geometrically staged dance sequences.

Though actually closer to the book than Dahl-scripted ``Wonka'' was, ``Charlie'' is also very much a Tim Burton movie. The director's favorite obsessions are evident, especially in the added bits about Willy's relationship with his stern father, which are too cool to reveal a single detail about (screenwriter John August also scripted Burton's most nakedly filial film, ``Big Fish'').

There are several visual references to earlier Burton works as well, not to mention a delightful tribute to ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' and other classics of fantastic cinema that the director has always loved.

Much tastier than his lumpy remake of ``Planet of the Apes,'' ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a full-flavored Tim Burton movie. With real bite.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY - Three and one half stars

(PG: children in jeopardy, mild violence, language)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Deep Roy, Helena Bonham Carter.

Director: Tim Burton.

Running time: 2 hr.

Playing: In wide release.

In a nutshell: The gleeful perversity of Roald Dahl's children's book is emphasized, and it's a perfect fit with Burton's twisted artistry and Depp's cackling, demented portrayal of Willy Wonka.

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Photo:

Freddie Highmore chews a little scenery as he takes on the title role in Tim Burton's ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'' which manages to be creepy, imaginative and fun.