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Wonka Review: Candy Coated Whimsey Sweetens A Few Bland Ingredients
Wonka might have some missteps along the way, but most of it doesn't really matter once you're caught up in the candy-coated whimsey of the film.
Article Summary
- Despite flaws, Wonka's genuine whimsy captures the original's magic.
- Controversial elements, like the fat joke subplot, mar the film.
- Timothée Chalamet's performance shines, embodies Wonka's spirit.
- Visuals dazzle but pacing stumbles; the joy radiates throughout.
Wonka isn't a perfect film, but the combination of the whimsey and how earnest everything about it is helps recapture the original movie's magic while presenting a new and unique experience.
Director: Paul King
Summary: Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "Wonka" tells the wondrous story of how the world's greatest inventor, magician, and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.
Wonka Is An Imperfect Family Film
Wonka is a film that seemed like a bad idea from the moment it was announced, and no one knew what to make of it. It seemed like another example of Hollywood just taking any recognizable IP, making a prequel/sequel about it, and calling it good. And maybe, on some level, that is what Wonka started as or even what it is at the end of the day. However, you can get great things out of bad intentions. The best group X-Men movie was X-Men: First Class, a film made solely for holding onto the rights of the mutants. Was this film made because people knew the name Wonka? Maybe, but director Paul King has taken that concept and turned it into something that feels genuine.
Some parts of Wonka don't work, and some of it is just things that won't click with certain people. First of all, there is not only an ongoing fat joke, but it also becomes an ongoing plot point that includes putting Keegan-Michael Key into a fat suit specifically made for laughs. This is a movie about candy. Candy can make you gain weight, but did this really have to become an entire subplot and ongoing joke? If there is indeed a weak spot in this film, it has everything to do with Key's role and what they end up doing with him.
Not everyone is into musicals, and despite what King might have said, this is a musical since it uses songs to explain plot points and move the story along. It doesn't just use music to express emotion. The combination of diegetic and non-diegetic music might also throw off some audiences, and there are moments where it doesn't work. The songs are fairly ordinary, both in composition and lyrics. There isn't a banger among the bunch, but they aren't bad, either.
What Wonka did do with the music was write to the strengths of their lead. King has said that he was thinking of Timothée Chalamet as his lead early on, which is a good thing here. They don't write the songs out of the range of what Chalamet can comfortably sing, so there aren't any awkward moments when it becomes apparent that they had to rewrite the piece to meet the actor's range. Chalamet does a pretty good job of capturing the essence of what Gene Kelly brought to the original role that made so many people fall in love with it in the first place. That's not to say he is doing an impression; he's doing his own thing, but you can see the throughline of the two characters, and the two performances feel both linked and distinctive. Chalamet's performance is a bit all over the place at times, but it probably works more than it doesn't, and he's endlessly charming in a way that's impossible to ignore.
Wonka stumbles a bit regarding pacing and structure in the latter part of the second act heading into the third, but once it seems like the film has run out of gas, it tries to pick things up again. It doesn't quite get there again, and it feels like most of the good ideas were used at the beginning, and they were left with a third act that needed something, but no one was sure what. Thankfully, the film does clock in at under two hours, so it doesn't overstay its welcome, but certain parts of the ending don't work, and this is another film that peaks in the first and second acts even though that peak is very high.
King and his team have shot a frankly beautiful film. The cinematography by Chung-hoon Chung, who has worked on films like Last Night in Soho and It, really pops. It captures the unrealistic realism that the original movie had, where some places felt like they could exist in our world while others felt like they were straight from our imagination. It's a great blend with King and the rest of his team, really capturing how earnest and genuine everything on screen feels.
Wonka himself is naive, earnest, and genuine; it's how he ends up in a bad spot with Noodle (Calah Lane) and the other supporting cast members. Said supporting cast doesn't get much to do, but they enhance every scene they are in. Lane, on the other hand, is fantastic and a little star if there ever was one. A lot has been made of Hugh Grant as one of the Oompa-Loompas, but he isn't in the movie that much, and he's quite entertaining when he is. He's not quite a scene-stealer, but it's always fun to watch at the same time.
Wonka might have some missteps along the way, but most of it doesn't really matter once you're caught up in the candy-coated whimsey of the film. King was always a reason to have faith in this film, and his sense of joy and love for the world he created are all over this film. That sense of joy elevates everything else in the movie and ultimately makes most of the weaknesses not that much. Families looking for something that will make them happy and good during the holiday season will likely enjoy Wonka.
Wonka
8/10
Wonka isn't a perfect film, but the combination of the whimsey and how earnest everything about it is helps recapture the original movie's magic while presenting a new and unique experience.
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