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.

When I heard that this movie was in production I was quite scared, the reason? I thought it would be another unnecessary sequel/prequel/reboot/remake.

I was surprised that Chalamet had taken the lead role when he's been making hit after hit.

Luckily I was wrong. This movie, which is a prequel to Gene Wilder's, I don't know how but it works. The actors are very good, the direction is also good and the musical section (of which I'm not a big fan) also hits the mark.

We have nods to the work of Roald Dahl, nods to the 70s movie and a very tender adventure but also with its madness.

Although I don't think it will go down in history as a great movie, it leaves me with the good feeling that if you put your heart into it, we can have plenty of material to continue marveling at cinema.

The beginning of the movie was promising, but then it became quite ridiculous and silly.

None of the songs in the movie were to my liking, with the exception of the opening song which was passable.

The acting was great, and Timothée Chalamet gave a very good performance.

I wouldn't say that I hated the movie, but it didn't do much for me either.

I think it would appeal to children more than adults.

I think the movie would have been better if more effort had been put into the screenplay and story.

I was so happy to see Charlotte Ritchie in the movie, even if it was just for a short time .

I loved the original, hated the remake, this one sits in the middle somewhere. It's definitely a mixed bag. I googled Timothée Chalamet to see how old he was because had he been in his early twenties, I would have given him a pass for a very uninspired performance. As it is, he is 28. Old enough, with enough films under his small belt, to be better than he is.

I got the feeling he watched more Depp than Wilder, unfortunately. You could see it in the smile. Wilder was crazy good and there is no expectation for anyone to equal him, it would still be nice to be more imaginative with the role.

The storyline was a mish-mash of unfocused stereotypes and had a lack of real artistic heart. Someone sat with the script and tried to come up with what they thought an audience would want rather than what these characters and storylines demand. The story skipped around like a ball in a pinball machine. We get that it's fantasy, but at least create a world that functions on the basis of a well thought out set of rules. There was no world building here...just a snap of the fingers.

The music was the most disappointing of all, especially compared to the original songs utilized. When you have great songs like Pure Imagination, you gotta be at least good enough to sit in the same room...these new songs weren't good enough to sit outside in the hallway.

With all that said, this movie was charming in it's own way. Better than the typical superhero repeats, that's for sure.

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.