Wonka (directed by Paul King) is a musical comedy about the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character from the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. It is also the third live-action film based on Dahl's novel. Wonka is funny, beautifully sweet and full of imagination.
The film follows Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) as he tries to succeed as a chocolatier, despite not having any money to his name. He is taken in by what at first seems like a kind innkeeper (Mrs Scrubbit played by Olivia Colman) and her henchman Bleacher (Tom Davis), but he actually finds out that once he signed to stay with them he also signed into using his labor if he can't pay. Here Wonka meets Noodle (Calah Lane) a young orphan who has been trapped here as well, they have a special bond as they both work together to get out and make their dreams come true. Along Wonka's way to showing his chocolate to the world he comes across the chocolate cartel trio (played by Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, and Paterson Joseph) who control the distribution of chocolate and the police force, shutting down any sign of competition. Wonka tries to outsmart the chocolate cartel and show his creations to the world whilst singing and dancing along the way.
Timothée Chalamet is perfect as a young Willy Wonka, he is full of charm, and beautifully portrays the excitement of life that Wonka feels. Young Wonka is a perky optimist who believes that when he finally shows his chocolate to the world his mother, who has passed, will be standing there beside him. Chalamet also brings emotion to the backstory of the character, with the beautiful storyline of him and his mother, who doesn't want him to lose sight of his dreams. At first release of the trailer many were skeptical about how well Chalamet was casted for this role, but his performance was wonderful and perfect. His singing voice was sweet, and it was refreshing to see him in a role that is not as serious as his usual roles.
Chalamet is also accompanied by an amazing supporting cast. Hugh Grant is hilarious as the Oompa-Loompa, he perfectly portrays the cunning, annoying nature of them, whilst also being stupidly funny in every scene he is in. Calah Lane is brilliant as Wonka's friend Noodle, their companionship is the heart of this film, as they perfectly match each other and connect over their lack of family and big dreams for their life. One of my favourite roles in the film was Keegan-Michael Kay as the chocoholic chief of police, he made me laugh in every scene he was in as he quickly started gaining weight with each bite of chocolate he took. There are also even smaller secondary characters that experience the positive effects of Wonka's chocolate, Wonka was able to allow these characters to complete their dreams and overcome obstacles in their life which was a sweet secondary storyline to watch unfold in the background.
This film is full of imagination and creativity, it has beautiful cinematography and use of colour. Even though this film does play homage to the past chocolate factory films and original book it also adds its own uniqueness. The songs are fun, and upbeat, the film did not fail to make me laugh but also had some sentimental moments which they hoped would make the audience shed a tear (and that worked on me!). And Timothée Chalamet is the heart of this film giving a charming performance as Wonka which had me smiling throughout.
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