Wonka: Review
By Sioph Leal
We previously met Willy Wonka as an extraordinary central character in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and then in the 1971 hit Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, famously starring Gene Wilder as the chocolatier. Now, we meet him again before he becomes the character we all know and love, but this time with a new take with Timothée Chalamet taking the reins.
Young and eccentric, Wonka wants to open his chocolate shop in a prime location and make it so everyone can enjoy chocolate, even the poor. His plan is thwarted by the Chocolate Cartel (no, really), Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Fickelgruber (Mathew Boynton), and Prodnose (Matt Lucas), who see Wonka as competition, don’t want anyone else dealing in chocolate, and want to stop Wonka’s vision for the sweet treat. The chocolate cartel is a promising aspect and set up well with the wackiness that fits Dahl’s world, but there is a pacing issue, and too many characters take away from this and cause issues within the film.
The main draw of the film is not the wackiness, the eccentric nature of Wonka, or the chocolate, but Chalamet himself. Gene Wilder’s performance from the 1971 film is hard to follow, but Chalamet does his best to be the eccentric titular character but can’t seem to fully embrace Wonka the way Wilder did and comes across as trying too hard, which gives an awkward performance. The 1971 version and the book have Wonka as a sarcastic hermit who you thought would genuinely kill the children on the tour of the chocolate factory as they failed his tests, but in a charming mix that was completely immersive and believable, but Chalamet just gives Chalamet. The rest of the cast are names we all know and love, with an impressive newcomer in Noodle (Calah Lane), and although the cast is talented, there’s a lack of chemistry between them, which does nothing for the writing or pacing issues.
As an avid musical fan, that element of the movie was intriguing, but like the rest of the movie, it is mediocre at best. It seems as if the team did not know what to do, so they opted for smashing different elements of other musicals together, which culminated in something devoid of originality and a soundtrack you’ll forget before you walk out of the screen.
It’s not all bad or boring; the supporting cast makes the movie watchable, and the production design is incredible, but take that away, and the experience is hollow, lacking creativity or imagination, and so jumbled that even a musical can’t save it.
It isn’t a bad movie; it’s fine, but that is it. There’s some style to it with the production design and the costumes that give a strong and unique visual flair, but the writing and lack of imagination knock the movie down. Even the plot is lacklustre, with no excitement and coming across as sanitised but trying too hard to be wacky. Will kids enjoy it? Probably, but it will be fleeting. There are elements that feel outdated and lazy, like the running fat joke with the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key), that add to a disconnected feeling.
Wonka tries too hard and uses what little flair it has in the visual elements of the film that will delight younger audiences for a moment. A lack of plot and charm, as well as bad pacing, make it a forgettable film that the musical numbers can’t save.
Wonka is released on 8 December in the UK and 15 December in the US.