Wonka

Paul King, the director behind the enchanting Paddington films entered the fold to direct a prequel to Gene Wilder's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Unfortunately, this outing is overproduced and overdone. And just like chocolate; some things are best had in moderation. Roald Dahl's work in recent times has regrettably been tampered with to remove language related to race, gender, weight, and mental health that today's readers might deem offensive. This film feels like a continuation of that craven desire to be inoffensive. The result is a slightly safe and garden variety end-product which isn't much of a tribute to Dahl, if it even wanted to be.

For me, all things Willy Wonka should be almost like an experiential hallucination; self-contained, a bit mysterious, and open to interpretation, without the need for any elaborate backstory spelling things out. Wonka should be an experience, not a storyboard. He ought be unpredictable, a one-off. In the book he is innovative, flamboyant, stubborn, arrogant, and authoritarian. We saw the innovative and the flamboyant, but none of the rest. Or how those latter qualities might have taken, or were taking, shape. Timothee Chalamet's portrayal, for all its innocent charms and trinkets, simply did not have the comedic and deliciously unpredictable edge of either Wilder or Depp's Wonkas; the dimensionality just wasn't there. That "edge" would have bounced off the sassiness of the stubborn Oompa Loompa perfectly, helping the audience to see how Wonka wins them over (besides just a paltry supposed bribe of chocolate tasting). Here, it's Hugh Grant outsmarting, outshining, and outwitting a bumbling wide-smiling, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Wonka in most of the scenes they share. The musical genre of this film wasn't a bad call, given the iconic hit of Wilder's "Pure Imagination," why not try out a musical style? The original songs here could have a little more oomph, though, lyrically and musically. The trio of main villains were excellently cast, with Matt Lucas, Paterson Joseph (stealing the show), and Mathew Baynton. All three were a treat to see on-screen.

Overall this film is relatively unchallenging for children compared to Wilder's 1971 work under the original source material, or Tim Burton's satirical 2005 outing. Imagining Willy Wonka as sweet, cloying and one-toned as he's shown here with Chalamet doesn't quite hit the sweet spot.

6.8/10.

Listen, I liked this movie. It was good, I just wished it gave me more. Felt like there was some underutilizing of potential, so it felt s little hollow for me.

It didn't tug on my heart strings or emotions ever, but it made it chuckle and Timothee was great as Wonka. A lot of unecessary singing. I can fully get into a good musical if the songs are good and properly placed and spread out, but I can't stand it when they sing songs just to sing, when they could just... talk. Some of the songs the movie weren't really catchy or even good, and felt pointless.

Positives: great casting, funny, beautiful sets and costumes. Could watch it at home just to watch a cozy movie (if you're into musicals), but not worth seeing in the theaters like I did.

Memories of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka performance come to mind and whereas his 1971 version was magical and witty, this 2023 version of Wonka is a bit underwhelming to be honest...

The bad: the songs just dont excite me. They just dont. They are not terrible, but quite average. The songs in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka were superb. I can still remember them to this very day!

More bad: there is a lack of magic and surprise. The story just doesnt take me on a trip like the original did. Sorry, that I keep comparing this one to the original. Perhaps I shouldnt?

Not any good then? This movie will surely please the young kids who ofcourse are the target audience for this movie. It's a nice fantasy musical movie for sure, with a bunch of TERRIFIC English actors, who lift this movie up. Timothee Chalamet did an allright job as well.

Nothing to really dislike about it, but nothing to get really excited about it either unfortunately, for me as a grownup fan of the original Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder.

This movie seemed to have it all. All of the actors played parts well and Timothee Chalamet is certainly fun to watch. The bits with the Oompah Loompa, played by Hugh Grant, should have been expanded. The sets, costumes and special effects were amazing. The music was from the original Wonka movie so that was nice. The story was almost completely new which I hoped to be nice too. Not so much. The spark I was looking for in the new story was missing for me, even though the actors and director were clearly giving it their best shot at it. I think the writing was the culprit. I was a bit bored in parts. If the writers were looking to get laughs, I don't recall breaking a smile more than once or twice and I think it was something that Rowan Atkinson was doing as the Priest. I did not hear anyone laugh in the theater the whole time. Most of the jokes I think we were supposed to laugh at were pretty lame. I will not be recommending this movie to any adult or child I know. I don't see it appealing to any age unless they are big fans of someone appearing in the film.

Getting the audience to commit to a musical requires some work. Wonka has a few extra hoops to jump through on top of that, they're building off of an existing property that they have to pay respects to as well. Establishing the world is paramount, we need to want to believe that Wonka could imagine these confections and use only the rarest of ingredients to make people fly or experience an entire party in a moment. Clearly Wonka's production budget was huge and the creative team uses it to great effect. The fantastical energy the movie is cultivating is dependent on how real a chocolate flower looks or how plausible it is for a giant chocolate vault guarded by monks seems. The practical sets were impressive and I wasn't annoyed by Wonka's use of CGI. It all blended together well and I have to credit everyone involved for selling it as successfully as they did. I'll caution that if you can't accept any fantastical elements, this movie is going to annoy you very quickly. You need to suspend disbelief and accept some dark quirks (like indentured servitude for orphans) on top of this completely fanciful adventure.

I read Charlie and Chocolate Factory as a kid, I enjoyed it and I've seen the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. I think you'll enjoy Wonka more if you're a fan of the property but it also works as a standalone story. Wonka's continued optimism in the face of failure and difficulty could go either way depending on how you see it (inspiring or annoying? You decide). His journey to becoming a successful chocolate maker isn't exceptionally deep but it's charming and it's clearly made with kids in mind. I think from that perspective, Wonka triumphs in taking the audience on a journey that should delight the younger members of the family and keep the less judgmental adults entertained.

As much as there's lavish production design and a light and bouncy script, Wonka lives and dies by Timothee Chalamet's performance Willy Wonka. Timothee is an ascending talent and I liked him in the sci-fi epic Dune. I think Wonka proves he's got the talent to do almost anything. He does great work here, he brings a lot of kindness and warmth to the character and he anchors Wonka capably. He also skips around the fact that he's not the strongest vocalist. He still delivers during the musical numbers and there's some good sleight of hand to shield him from having to belt it out like it's a Broadway musical. The supporting cast is great across the board, they're all playing it big (Olivia Coleman, Tom Davis, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton and Keegan-Michael Key are all enjoyably hammy as the villains of the piece) but that's also the genre and while they could have been toned down a little, I had to put it aside as a concession to the tone of the film. Kudos to Calah Lane who's portraying Noodle, she's very earnest to the point of being potentially cheesy but that's more of result of her character than her acting.

I wasn't planning to go see this movie in theatres but I went out with a couple of friends and I had a surprisingly good time with this film. The lavish production budget, well rounded cast and an inherent sweetness (no pun intended) to the proceedings stripped me of any preconceived bias. Timothee Chalamet's exemplary performance sealed the deal. Wonka still isn't in my wheelhouse and if you don't enjoy musicals, I'm hesitant to recommend it. But if you're attached to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story or if you're in the mood to be swept away into a fantastical world of imagination, I think you'll enjoy Wonka wholeheartedly.