For the second time in a pretty short space of time, Tim Burton has rather strangely decided to direct a remake of a film which nobody particularly found fault with in the first place.  Planet of the Apes was hardly a roaring success, but Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which, yes I know, isn't a remake of the Gene Wilder film but a more faithful interpretation of Roald Dahl's classic book) has done far better.  Throughout the advertising campaign for the film, I wondered who the slightly spooky but not unattractive woman was who featured so prominently in the posters - this turned out to be Johnny Depp, looking as feminine as Audrey Hepburn.  Still, he still attracted the usual amount of acclaim for his performance - he is a complete natural for Burton's films and it's no wonder they have worked together as often as they have.

As often as that is, it's not nearly so often as Burton has worked with composer Danny Elfman; aside from their brief falling out at the time of Ed Wood, Elfman's scored all of the director's films.  Inevitably, his music here sounds absolutely nothing like Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and nor should it - this is completely, unmistakably Elfman, writing in his own tried-and-true style, but pushing it further than usual.  The album opens with five songs, the first of which - the only one not to feature lyrics adapted from the book - is a kind of Disney World parody, deliberately silly and trite, "Wonka's Welcome Song".  Unfortunately, the problem with this that are deliberately silly and trite is that they are silly and trite, just as much so as things which are silly and trite in a non-deliberate fashion, so unlike seemingly the rest of the world I'm not particularly keen on it.  After that, there are four other songs for the various children, including the amusing "Augustus Gloop" and sweet "Veruca Salt", which even includes a hint of Bollywood in there for some reason.  Most impressively, all the vocals for the songs (and there is a great range of vocals in every track) were done by Elfman himself.

The score itself begins in stellar fashion in the main title, which is brilliant.  When Elfman is writing at his peak, he can be insanely creative, and such is the case here, with orchestra and choir combining in genuinely imaginative fashion for a delightful piece, sometimes a little like Flubber and sometimes completely original.  A secondary theme is introduced in "Wonka's First Shop", which is vaguely reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands, Elfman's most popular (for a reason) score.  "The Indian Palace" reintroduces the Bollywood stylings, but these are very subtle and the piece remains resolutely Elfmanish.  More hints of Scissorhands come in "Wheels in Motion", which is quite delightful.  By saying how many things remind me of something else, I'm not trying to suggest this score is a rehash of previous Elfman efforts, because it certainly isn't - I'm just providing a little frame of reference.

Later on, the air of fantasy which pervades much of the opening half of the album slowly becomes more urgent and action-packed, resulting in a nice change of pace and some more excellent music.  "The Golden Ticket / Factory" starts the more sinister sounds - it's a classic Elfman piece, with the orchestra swelling, a female choir providing support and some Midi percussion giving a great sense of rhythm.  That leads directly into "Chocolate Explorers", in which Elfman combines just a hint of tension with a great sense of wonderment.  "Loompa Land" is a delicious piece in which the Oompa-Loompas' are voiced in a similar way to the songs, with guitars, vocals and percussion.  "The Boat Arrives" brings jungle percussion into the mix for an evocative, far darker piece, also introducing snarling brass; there's a hint of Jerry Goldsmith about it.  This continues with "The River Cruise", another striking and evocative track.  Things are wrapped up very nicely in the typically rousing "Finale" and lengthy end credits suite.

This is the closest Elfman has come to writing in his much-loved but seemingly-abandoned Edward Scissorhands style in a long time, but he blends that in with his more aggressive modern style with great results.  It's a creative and impressive score, one of the year's best, and if one hopes Tim Burton might move back to the kind of unique and original films he used to make, on the other hand one might not be too concerned what he does, as long as he takes Elfman along for the ride with him.