REVIEW: ‘Wonka’ Is A Mostly Feel-Good Visual Splendor

Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet, ) is a pop culture figure surrounded with whimsy and mystery. Audiences worldwide know Wonka for his starring role in 1978’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl) where Gene Wilder played him in a career highlight. Now, writer-director Paul King of Paddington fame sets out with his new film, aptly titled Wonka, co-written with Simon Farnaby, to tell Willy’s origin story as he sets out to establish his famous chocolate factory and honor the work of his mother (Sally Hawkins).

However, the young chocolatier gets more than he bargained for as he faces against Big Chocolate in the form of Misters Prodnose (Matt Lucas), Fickelgruber (Matthew Baynton), and Slugworth (Paterson Joseph). With the help of his new friends Noodle (Calah Lane), Lottie (Rakhee Thakrar), Piper (Natasha Rothwell), Abacus (Jim Carter), and Larry (Rich Fulcher), and some unexpected help from an Oompa Loompa stowaway (Hugh Grant), Willy may just yet persevere to achieve his dream. In addition to these actors, the film also stars Matilda Tucker, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman, and Rowan Atkinson.

King’s direction and Chung Chung-hoon’s cinematography make Wonka a splendid visual delight. Mark Everson‘s editing keeps the film at a brisk and cheerful pace throughout. Brimming with color, abundant lighting, and superb camera motions and shots, Wonka allows audiences to revel in its splendor. Between this film and Barbie, bright and colorful films are making a comeback in cinema after too many years of dreary grays and murky settings. Between this film and his Paddington films, King has succeeded in making London (or at least a western European coded city) a colorful and vibrant place you want to be and ideal for the musical setting of his new film.

And the music itself is great. From high-energy songs like “Sweet Tooth” and “You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This” to slower and more contemplative tunes like “For a Moment” and “Sorry, Noodle”, you have a variety of numbers to enjoy throughout. Joby Talbot and Neil Hannon musical contributions are an overall joy. King and Chung-hoon have a great eye for musical scenes, with sweeping shots of the ensembles and keen focus on Wonka, Noodle (Lane), or whoever is singing the main melody. Wonka envelops you into the warmth of its musical setting, leaving you with great tunes to hum on your way out. While they may not quite reach the musical heights of “Pure Imagination” (which the film plays a few times throughout), you’ll still appreciate their addition to the Wonka and Roald Dahl musical canon.

It’s really in the setting, both in cinematography and its musicality, where Wonka shines most. The characters, including Wonka, are by and large serviceable, with some popping out more than others. Chalamet plays Wonka with a good balance of manic and innocence, as he, much like Paddington the bear, is an idealistic newcomer to Europe who must deal with unfamiliar cynicism as he attempts to make his way. Chalamet gives an overall good range as the character, but never quite reaches the heights of Gene Wilder. Unfortunately, while Chalamet has a serviceable voice, his onscreen performance during the songs is lacking, as he doesn’t range his expressions while singing that well. Thankfully, he is very expressive outside of the singing scenes making him otherwise enjoyable to watch in the role and has the growth potential later on as a musical performer.

The supporting cast has a great range overall. Joseph, Lucas, and Baynton as our three villainous chocolatiers are particularly delightful in their wickedness, but especially Joseph as Slugworth who consistently chews up the scenery. Atkinson is hilarious as the corrupt chocolate-obsessed priest. Lane has an overall great debut as Noodle, who assists Wonka in his aspirations, and discovers more about herself on the way. Watching the film you’ll see how there was ample opportunity for her role to be expanded, but what we get is sweet enough. Willy and Noodle’s other friends also provide ample comedy and sweetness, from the stern-yet-soft Abacus to the shy Lotite, and serve key functions throughout the film as they help Willy achieve his dream. Overall, the protagonists are delightful to root and cheer for as we watch them stand up to the corporate chocolatiers.

What really holds the film back from true greatness is the continuation of aspects of Dahl’s legacy that could simply be left in the past. The inclusion and casting of Grant as Lofty the Oompa-Loompa, with Oompa-Loopa’s already mired in controversy for their colonial origins and potentially subpar optics for people with dwarfism, is particularly perplexing. But Grant is not all bad. While sometimes seeming superfluous to the plot, and sometimes acting as a deus-ex-machina, he remains fun to watch in the role with his trademark sardonic attitude and mannerisms. He even sings the classic “Oompa-Loompa” song quite well with a jig to boot.

Additionally, Oliva Colman is delightful as always, here playing the villainous Mrs. Scrubbit. A clear secondary antagonist along with her lackey Bleacher (Davis) they offer many additional comedic moments that will have you in stitches from laughter. Colman especially is magnetic in her natural charisma whenever she’s on screen, showcasing her incredible range as an actor and physical comedienne. While the individual performance is strong, one also can’t help but see her character derivative of other Dahl characters. Namely, she’s almost like a working-class Cockney Trunchbull. An unfortunate aspect of Dahl’s writing (among several others) was his frequent coding of working class. Mrs. Scrubbit continues that aspect of Dahl’s mixed legacy, even while Colman remains incredibly fun to watch.

Not delightful, however, is Keegan-Michael Key as the chief of police. His character is one note as the corrupt head of police in cahoots with the chocolatiers, doing their bidding to hinder Wonka as they bribe him with an endless supply of chocolates. Revealingly during the song “Sweet Tooth,” as the chocolate moguls begin their villainous plot with Key’s character, he is the uncharismatic object as opposed to the fun-to-watch main villains. Key tries with what he’s given, but the script doesn’t give him room to be more than a punching bag of a character. The script reduces him to being a punchline of fat (and unfunny) jokes while Key is in an increasingly fat bodysuit, meant to represent his growing greed, a needless fatphobic trope that is also, regrettably, in the vein of Dahl’s work. Without much else to work with in the script, Key’s performance is overall limited and lackluster, just like his character.

But despite continuing on Dahl at his worst, Wonka also carries on Dahl at his best. The whimsical depiction of a kind-hearted protagonist in Willy and his friends facing against corrupt and selfish villains, as a Dahl protagonist typically does, to visual and musical flair. It’s a joyful spectacle of dance, music, chocolate (so much of it), kindness, and friendship that will bring at least some measure of delight to audiences watching. While we can acknowledge Dahl wasn’t the best in his perpetuations of stereotypes, we can still acknowledge the value of his stories. Namely, it’s for how they show the downtrodden persevere through adversity and achieve their noble dreams and having fun along the way. In that, Wonka is a story worth telling and watching.

Despite its less savory aspects, Wonka remains a delightful whimsy of a film that mostly works. Its music, performances, and visual splendor that make it worth a trip to the theaters. While the script and characters could have been tighter, King and Chung-hoon’s visual flairs and camerawork, along with Talbot and Hannon’s music and lyrics, will envelop you in the range of imagination of chocolate making. Wonka may not quite reach the heights of its iconic 1971 predecessor, but it is still a good addition to the Dahl canon of film, even if it has its lingering issues to improve upon.

Wonka debuts in US theaters Friday, December 15th