Movie Review - Wonka

 

So Paul King has already done Paddington well (twice with a third on the way), so now let's see how he does this origin story for a man who one day has a chocolate factory with the intention of handing it over to a successor one day. Yep, after so many years, we now have a third take on Roald Dahl's classic story, but this time as an origin story to Wonka himself who, this time, is played by the very talented (and quite the looker despite not having a muscular build) Timothée Chalamet. It's a musical with connections to the old Gene Wilder film (and a few from the Johnny Depp one, but we don't talk about that one much) and has had some controversy on Oompa Loompas being NOT played by dwarf actors. Grab your golden ticket and let's get to it:

Young Willy Wonka travels to an unnamed European city to fulfil his dream of opening a chocolate shop at the Galleries Gourmet. He stays at a laundromat run by Mrs Scrubbit (played by Olivia Coleman) and her henchman Bleacher (played by Tom Davis), remaining unaware of the excessive charges she gives to her customers when they sign the unusually long contract. He works to get people interested in his chocolate, which soon attracts the attention of three individuals that form the Chocolate Cartel (played by Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Matthew Baynton) who plot with the Chief of Police (played by Keegan-Michael Key) to oust him from the Galleries Gourmet, forcing Wonka to seek help from some people that stayed at the laundromat and a small little man too. All in an attempt to make a name for himself, for reasons that are spoilers.

This film, is pretty good. It's fun, full of heart, got great musical numbers with some being quite familiar and at times, a little silly. But as silly as most of Roald Dahl's stories can get, so that's to be expected. Chalamet acts as Wonka really well, Hugh Grant does well as the Oompa Loompa despite my reservations of using him instead of an actual dwarf actor as they have done before. The actors that play the villains, all play their parts well. Especially Matt Lucas and Rowan Atkinson, who don't usually play villains. Yep, another win for Mr. King, and I look forward to whatever thing he decides to adapt to screen next! 9/10