“Wonka” Review
Following in the footsteps of Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp, Timothée Chalamet dons the top hat of Willy Wonka in “Wonka”, a film that explores the origins of the marvelous chocolatier.
Ever since Timothée Chalamet posted a photo of himself as Willy Wonka in 2021 while on the set of “Wonka”, a film intended to serve as the character’s origin story, the existence of this film has been divisive especially considering just how beloved the source material is. “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is easily Roald Dahl’s most iconic and treasured book of all time (which is saying a tremendous lot) and its 1971 film adaptation “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is just as adored. Tim Burton’s 2005 adaptation on the other hand is far more polarizing. While I have a soft spot for the film and its zany creativity as well as being one of the first films I remember seeing in a theater, I acknowledge that there are elements of the film, mainly Johnny Depp’s awkward performance of Willy Wonka, that drag it down.
So, with Depp’s portrayal still leaving a bad taste in people’s mouths, it’s understandable why people would be apprehensive to a new version of Wonka, especially since Gene Wilder was nothing short of perfection in the original film. However, I was very much wanting to give films the benefit of the doubt for two reasons. First, I don’t like to speculate too much about a film because there’s really no way of knowing how it will be until you actually see it. Second, I was intrigued by the man directing this film, Paul King, whose previous films have included “Paddington” and “Paddington 2” which are the most warm and comforting family films you will ever see. Watching those films is like seeing someone take a look at “Mary Poppins” and say “we can make it even more wholesome”. Like his films concerning the marmalade sandwich eating bear, “Wonka” is a film that can best be summed up by three words: charming, cute and scrumdiddlyumptious.
Showcasing the early years of the amazing candy man, Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) moves into a quaint European town, after spending years abroad studying chocolate making, with the dream of opening his own candy shop. However, his presence quickly makes enemies out of the Chocolate Cartel, composed of Arthur Slugworth, Felix Fickelgruber and Gerald Prodnose (Paterson Joseph, Mathew Baynton and Matt Lucas), who are flabbergasted that Wonka’s candies are so good and that he sells them at affordable prices. With the Cartel using their influence with a powerful landlady (Olivia Colman) and the chief of police (Keegan-Michael Key) to stop his confectionery wizardry, Wonka teams up with several other downtrodden souls, including an orphan named Noodle (Calah Lane) and a mysterious Oompa Loompa named Lofty (Hugh Grant), to take down the Cartel and make his dream of pure imagination come to life.
While some might argue that part of Willy Wonka’s charm is how mysterious he is (and there is plenty of truth to that), I think that examining the backstory of Wonka would be fascinating and I’m not talking about his daddy issues from Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Timothée Chalamet is simply charming in “Wonka” as he has the passion and kindness found in other versions of the character but also has that youthful naivete that does land him in trouble.
At first, I thought his zany attitude was a bit too much but about halfway through the film I came to a realization: it’s an act. This is a guy who wants to be taken seriously and decides to put on the airs of a magician but, when he lets his guard down, there’s a sensitivity to this performance that I was engrossed by. When you find out Willy’s connection to candy and why he loves to make chocolate, it made me teary-eyed with how sweet it was (pun not intended).
The rest of the cast is wonderful with so many of the most cozy people you could imagine in a film. Calah Lane is a perfect foil as a more hardened orphan who Willy takes under his wing. Their connection is probably the strongest emotional crux of the film since they both teach each other important lessons about the world and help each other keep their chins up in a world that is trying to beat them down. The rest of Wonka’s allies are all charming with lovely people like Jim Carter and Rakhee Thakrar and Hugh Grant brings all the charisma you could want as Lofty the Oompa-Loompa.
Assisting Wonka (Right) in his adventures is Calah Lane as Noodle, an orphan whose imagination is awakened by her new mentor.
The film has quite a few villains and all of them are delightfully mean just for the sake of it with Joseph, Baynton and Lucas all being comically stuck-up as these titans of candy with Fickelgruber unable to say the word “poor” without feeling ill. Keegan-Michael Key is enjoyable dim as the easily bribable police chief, Olivia Colman sounds like she’s trying to out-Trunchbull the Trunchbull from “Matilda” and Rowan Atkinson is such a fun presence as a corrupt priest who lets the Chocolate Cartel use his church as a base of operations. I never thought I would see Atkinson have to run away from a stampeding giraffe in two separate films, after seeing him as Zazu getting hilariously mangled during the song “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from “The Lion King”, but this is the way of the world.
With three cinematic versions of Willy Wonka existing, it’s incredible that all three of them have a strong identity for better or for worse. While some might think that “Wonka” has too much of a similar feel to “Paddington”, I would argue that the style in which Paul King handled the “Paddington” films also compliments the zany characters of Roald Dahl. It’s similar to when you see Wes Anderson use the exact same style for his four Roald Dahl short films (which were made for Netflix in 2023) that he used for “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. It just works too well to pass up.
If you’re looking for a perfectly comforting film, “Wonka” is certainly going to appeal to you no matter what age you are. The visuals are stunning, the candy looks so good that your mouth will water and you feel your inner child take complete control of you the longer the film goes. While the film’s trailers made good use of the film’s lovely music, composed by Joby Talbot, I had no idea that the film was a musical with original songs by Neil Hannon. Like the nougat filling you had no idea was in the chocolate bat, this was just another pleasant surprise that makes “Wonka” even more delightful. I don’t know if any of these musical numbers can match the iconic songs Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley wrote for “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, these songs are pleasant and sung with infectious passion.
Whether you view “Wonka” as a prequel to the book or to the 1971 film (the latter is more likely given the similar design of Oompa Loompas, some visual allusions to the original film and the use of musical themes from the original, including a retooled version of “Pure Imagination”), “Wonka” is not reliant on the viewer having seen any other Wonka related property and stands on its own quite nicely. With so many soulless remakes, sequels, reboots, requels and any other kind of film based on an existing IP banking on your knowledge of the original source material, it’s nice to see a film come along that tries to create something unique from a story we think we know.
Out of all the films being released this time of year which are competing for the lucrative family audience, “Wonka” is a delightful time that will appeal to the imaginations of all ages. It’s a blend of all the right ingredients mixed with love and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t taste good.
