• Release year: 2023
• Director: Paul King.
• Producers: Alexandra Derbyshire, David Heyman and Luke Kelly.
• Screenplay by: Simon Farnaby and Paul King.
• Cinematographer: Chung-hoon Chung.
• Music by: Toby Talbot.

Shotgun Commentary: as a prequel that completely ignores and rewrites Willy’s previous depictions… not bad actually, not bad at all.

Review

Wonka retells the story of Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) and how he became the most famous and successful chocolatier in the world. This film follows the style of previous Wonka-related content. It is an upbeat, colourful, cheerful tale full of dark, devastating moments and tons of humour.

A Wonka for the 20s

The story of Willy Wonka has been told and retold multiple times. Therefore, it is a huge challenge to bring something new to the table, a different perspective or novel storyline. While slightly disappointing, the decision of leaving all previous stories behind and reinventing every moment of Willy’s story, even if it contradicts previous versions, is quite an intelligent one.

At first, one expects lots of references to the previous features. Yet, this complete separation between storylines quickly makes you forget all that you knew and get in the mood to follow this brand-new story. Yes, you don’t get to tour the chocolate factory, but you get a more close-up look to the usually skimmed-through story of the envious chocolatiers and how they try to tear Wonka down.

Surprisingly, Wonka differs from its predecessors even in this subject, since not once do they try to steal his recipes. Instead, they scheme to keep him out of the market and exile him from the city. Thus, bringing up new topics and exposing the corruption in big companies, the police, and even the church. Once again, this famous story is used to reflect the ugliness of society. Only this time, the capitalist curtain of smoke is put to the side in favour of shining a light on the dishonesty and misconduct of these social groups that are often considered exemplary.

A pinch of crime

As a result of this focus change, this story presents a very important development: the very real possibility of death. From discussions about beatings to death, to murder attempts with explosives, death looms over the whole story more presently than ever before.

Curiously, you might find that, out of his factory, he still applies the same nonsensical logic to his behaviour. This means that, according to Willy, it’s not right to steal a bottle of milk, but it is to repeatedly drug people and steal both balloons and animals from the zoo. Helium filled balloons, mind you, that are way more expensive than a bottle of milk. The illogical nature of Willy makes you simply accept certain facts, even when they take it a bit too far.

100 ml of saturated colours

Good news is, the split second you start thinking “wait a minu…”, there will be countless colourful, possibly singing, dancing or popping elements on the screen to make you completely abandon your trail of thought without a second look. This is due to the gorgeous cinematography that presents the whole narrative in the most artistic way possible, following the Wonka philosophy of pure madness and pizazz.

The light configurations in lit as well as dark settings feels like it is straight out of a painting. Plus, each piece is perfectly situated to contribute to the storytelling of each scene. This meticulousness shines even brighter during the musical numbers.

A drop of choreo

When watching a musical, one expects the songs to be the main course of the event. However, Wonka doesn’t follow this rule. The tracks are cute, but not catchy or specially powerful. The choreographies and visual aspects occurring during each melody are significantly more interesting than the music. Besides, the singing abilities of the actors and the lyrics of the songs are quite average, which makes it very hard to remember any of them a day after watching the movie.

Moreover, the accounts between songs are immensely more interesting and fun. Consequently, Wonka is poor as a musical, but quite good as an adventure film for children.

2 tbsp of characterisation

What you will clearly remember for days to come is the appearance of the actors after being turned into the wacky people that inhabit Wonka’s story. The departments of wardrobe, makeup and hairstyling do a top-notch job customising each look to showcase the character’s personality and background before they even open their mouths. The creation of this fictional personalities is completed with the labour of the talented cast, most of which inhabit their character beautifully.

A dash of acting

Willy Wonka is portrayed by Timothée Chalamet. He gives life to a younger version of the excentric genius previously embodied by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp. Chalamet follows the film’s m.o. by distancing his performance from the previous ones. He gives Willy a more endearing naivety that fits his age and the stage of life that he is in. Even so, he sometimes overdoes it with the quirky. This exaggeration is much on brand with Depp’s Willy, but it takes you out of the movie in this case. One could assume that is simply the more edgy part of this Willy looming under the surface, but it is still a bit cringy.

The three evil chocolatiers, as well as Wonka’s team, combine the traits of real people with the oddity of a character in the Wonka world flawlessly. They are hateable, adorable or inspiring, as well as making you laugh and wonder what they will do next.

Rowan Atkinson, in his role of chocolate-addicted priest, exposes the hypocrisy of the church so hilariously that even fully-convinced Catholics will have a hard time to find a flaw in his portrayal. As for Hugh Grant, he didn’t seem too convinced about playing an Oompa Loompa, but this reticence fits perfectly with his character’s grumpy demeanour, which is hilarious and adds another layer of comedy to the overall piece.

The cherry on top

Regardless of this incredible cast, the biggest star of all in Wonka is undoubtedly Olivia Colman in the role of Mrs. Scrubitt. She plays villain as perfectly as she plays heroes and queens. She is loathsome and dirty, but funny and interesting at the same time. Her character is horrible and yet brings you so much joy and entertainment that you can only hope she has more screen time, a fact that seldom happens with villain roles.

All in all, this kooky, excentric comedy is great entertainment for kids and adults. But don’t forget to bring snacks with you when you watch it, it’ll be utter torture otherwise!

Advice to take from this movie:

• Don’t go around flaunting your money, you’ll attract the worst sort of people like moths to the flame.
• Read EVERYTHING before signing a contract.
• There is always a bright side, one just needs to be strong enough to look for it.

What’s your take? Have you watched Wonka? Which version do you like best? Why? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀

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