Wonka - Movie Review

The Movie: Wonka

The Director: Paul King

The Cast: 

Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant

The Story: With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.

The Review:

Sometimes you just want to kick back and enjoy a fun movie. The type of storytelling that doesn't challenge you mentally or emotionally as much as it just satisfies the pleasure center of your brain. Much like eating a piece of chocolate candy, Paul King's prequel film is filled with a scrumptious mix of ingredients that will make you nothing but happy to have taken it all in. The story is a smooth ride through milky waves of sweetly crafted songs and flavorful doses of whimsical fantasy led by a deliciously endearing performance from Timothée Chalamet as the one and only Wonka himself.

It would be easy to sweet talk a movie like this to no end and the imperfections are few and far between but what really stands out above anything else is that the experience of watching it just makes you feel good. I will say that I've never been a huge fan of Mr. Chalamet, for me he's just always sort of been there without ever really standing out, although I feel like what he does with this most iconic of characters (thank you always Gene Wilder) has gone a long way to change that. A role like this isn't for just anyone to take on and the actor embodies everything the candy making maven should be.

It's been forever since I've watched the original film although what has always stood out to me when I think about it is how colorful it is and the genuine feeling magic that you get from watching it. While it was clear that this movie would have the entire color pallete and then some, I wasn't sure if the magic would come along with it and I'm happy to say that every bit of it was firmly in place. The one thing I made sure to do when I sat down to watch the movie was to shut down the critical and judgemental parts of my brain so the little kid could resurface and allow wonder and imagination to take over.

The story is just enough without being repetitive or derivitive and all of the characters fit the fantasy world pretty much perfectly with standout performances from Olivia Colman (of course) as a salacious shop owner, Calah Lane who Noodles her way into our hearts, and Sally Hawkins who has as much of an impact as anyone with very limited screen time. With all of the vivid colors, wild fantasy elements, and songs that will have you humming for days (Oompa Loompa anyone?), the characters and the performances are really at the core of what makes this movie such a tasty treat.