Wonka
Director: Paul King
Screenwriters: Simon Farnaby, Paul King
Based on: Characters by Roald Dahl
Cinematographer: Chung-hoon Chung
Music by: Joby Talbot, Neil Hannon
Production Companies: Village Roadshow Pictures, The Roald Dahl Story Company, Heyday Films, Domain Entertainment
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: 15 December 2023
Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
MPA Rating: PG
Availability: Theaters
Synopsis
The character of Willy Wonka is subjected to the inevitable backstory treatment in Wonka. Having just arrived in a Victiorian London-esque city, Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) quickly starts on his quest to open up the best chocolate shop in town and share the gift of chocolate with the rest of the world. However, he’s soon thwarted by The Chocolate Cartel, led by the malicious Slugworth (Paterson Joseph) and whose will is enforced by the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key). And to make matters worse, the contract that Wonka signed with his conniving landlord, Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Coleman), requires that he work for her until he’s paid off an incredibly high amount of debt. There’s also this mysterious little orange man with green hair (Hugh Grant) who tries to steal chocolate from Wonka at every chance he can get. Thankfully, Wonka may just have enough magic, friends - including the book-smart and cynical orphan, Noodle (Calah Lane) - and irreplaceable positivity to make his dream come true.
Analysis
Wonka has a ton of heart going for it, and the film delivers this both technically and narratively. On the technical front, most scenes are bathed in light and vibrant colors; even scenes set in the nighttime have a glow to them. Sets are fantastical in nature and reminiscent of the some of the villages at Disneyland. And the movie’s magic is fantastical but mostly avoids an overuse of special effects, which feels very in-line with the type of magic depicted in the original. From a narrative perspective, at the movie’s core is a simple yet uplifting message. The message is effectively delivered through a narrative that’s heartwarming but still filled with enough adversity to make the story compelling; most importantly, the story never loses focus on what it’s trying to say. The tone is positive and funny enough to get younger audiences invested, comically mature enough to entertain adult audiences, and is wholesome in such a way as to get everyone on board. And lastly, the employment of magic and music elevates the story to the realm of the fantastical while still aligning well with the overall story and tone. The combination of these elements simply makes everything click.
While there certainly isn’t a great amount of depth to the movie’s characters, you still get emotionally invested in the story due to solid character writing and even better performances. Leading the helm is Timothée Chalamet’s turn as the titular candy factory owner. Wonka’s aspirational dream and good-naturedness will get you to root for him, and Chalamet brings the necessary level of oddball energy and humanity to make Wonka entertaining while still believable. Regarding his close companion Noodle, while I felt that she could’ve been written less flat - and that the character represents yet another example of the “black best friend” trope - Lane brings a level of earnestness to the role that makes the character compelling. You also have a great dynamic between Wonka and his whimsicalness with Noodle and her practicalness, and it was nice to see Wonka’s optimism rub off on Noodle. Lastly there’s Joseph’s malevolent performance as Slugworth. The actor chews up each scene by portraying his character’s villainy in an enjoyably over-the-top fashion, which will make you both love and hate Slugworth. I’ll also give honorable mentions to Key, Grant, and Coleman, whose hilarious performances allowed them to steal nearly every scene they were in - especially for Key.
The only aspects of the film that took me out were the music and occasionally wonky special effects. While the songs were certainly good, I didn’t feel that the music or choreography were that memorable. That being said, this opinion is mostly based on how Wonka compares to the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is pretty unfair. And while I found the movie’s practical effects great, the movie felt at its most unrealistic when it relied too heavily on CGI. (I’m honestly surprised that such effects weren’t more polished, given the film’s reported budget of $125M and how rarely CGI is employed in the first place.) So while I still enjoyed the movie overall, these elements made me eager for some scenes to end.
Conclusion
To recap, Wonka successfully executes on what it’s going for: the delivery of a fantastical, wholesome, comical, and musical tale, with a simple yet sweet message lying in its gooey center. While the music and special effects could’ve been better, these shortcomings didn’t make a lasting impression. Wonka is thus a nice movie to check out when you get the chance, especially with the family.