A Reel Review: WONKA

The character of Willie Wonka, created by the great Roald Dahl, has seen the big screen twice in the last 50-plus years. The first bite came in 1971 with the somewhat-beloved WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY with the great Gene Wilder in the lead. The second came in 2005 with the ill-fated CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, directed by Tim Burton and with Johnny Depp as Willie. Here in 2023, we get a fresh take with WONKA; a spiritual prequel to the 1971 film. 

 

Aspiring magician and chocolate maker Willie Wonka (Timothee Chalamet), arrives in a busy European city after years of traveling the world to find his fortune selling his amazing candies. After his efforts are thwarted by the ruling Chocolate Cartel (Paterson Joseph, Matthew Baynton, Matt Lucas), he becomes trapped as an indentured servant where he befriends young Noodle (Calah Lane), and hatches a plan to free her and realize his dreams. 

 

Directed by Paul King (director of the PADDINGTON films), WONKA serves as an origin story for Willie and how he would become the ruler of a chocolate empire. Before he gets there, he has some obstacles to overcome with the Chocolate Cartel getting in the way, and paying his debt to get out of slavery from the iron thumb of Mrs. Scrubitt (Oliva Colman). Along the way, Willie befriends fellow slaves (Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Rakhee Thakrar, Rich Fulcher), and decides to help them get out of debt as well. 

 

There are familiar themes at work here in putting aside your own dreams to help others, and the chemistry between Wonka and Noodle give it some serious heart. As a movie about Willie Wonka, is does offer a lot that is fresh and new. This Willie is far from the Wilder and Depp versions who were content to watch a kid drown in chocolate. This one is bright-eyed and enthusiastic about life and his friends, and avoids the tired be-good-or-die thing aimed at children. 

 

The production design is fantastic, the musical numbers fun (although maybe only a few can get stuck in our heads), and the energy is upbeat. As an origin story it clicks off most of the boxes, but it does get off to a hot start: as the film begins Willie already has his trademark purple coat and top hat and knows how to make magical chocolate. While most of the how-he-got-there gets filled in via flashbacks, WONKA starts in a way that makes us feel like we missed the first half the movie. Still, director Paul King finds a lot of magic and fun to play with, and nearly every scene is a delight. 

 

Timothee Chalamet does a fine job with the character and handles the musical numbers very well. Calah Lane steals the show. Sally Hawkins appears as Willie’s mother in flashbacks and adds some hefty emotion. Hugh Grant comes in as an Oompa Loompa who has been following Willie around, but his role amounts to an extended cameo and barely makes an impact in the story. 

 

It is no great spoiler to say that by movie’s end, Willie finds the means to build his famed chocolate factory. What is not clear is how he eventually becomes the recluse that the classic books and 1971 film show us. It feels like a leap to get there, but in the meantime, there is a lot of sweetness in WONKA to bite into and savor. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it.