So, I was completely on-board when news broke that a prequel movie to the original Wonka film was in the works. There's a lot to be explored in Wonka's past.
What I liked most about this recent movie, "Wonka," based on the 1964 novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl, is that it sticks to the source material and doesn't try to beat the audience over the head with some socio-political ideology. Too many movies, even children's movies, these days consider it mandatory to preach some modern ideology, only to fail miserably.
"Wonka," which cost $125 million to make, managed to earn $39 million on its opening weekend alone.
Are you paying attention, Disney? I bring this up because that possibility played in the back of my mind as I brought my children to this movie.
Seldom are current films made to tell an entertaining story or for any artistic credibility. Hollywood seems more and more to be making films for political credibility instead.
Anyways, this movie tells the story of young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) whose an aspiring magician and chocolatier.
His dream to be the best candy maker and set up a shop in the Galeries Gourmet where three other major chocolatiers have already established their candy businesses.
Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Gerald Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Felix Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) are three corrupt businessmen who operate the biggest candy shops in the Galeries Gourment. Though the three are rivals, they've developed a chocolate cartel by which they pressure the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) to keep Wonka from selling chocolate on their turf and drive him out of town. The cartel secretly meets in the catacombs underneath St. Benedict's Church where the parish priest, Fr. Julius (Rowan Atkinson) is paid in chocolate to aid these corrupt businessmen and allow them to meet in secret under his church.
And that's my biggest gripe about this movie. Though I'm often thick-skinned, even as a practicing Catholic, about the all-too-often poor depictions of Catholics and Christians in general in films, I didn't care for this priest character being portrayed as a simp so easily paid off in candy to help the corrupt businessmen. I felt the movie went out of its way to make this poor depiction. It's often open season on Catholics in Hollywood, and that vendetta sadly continues in this movie.
Anyways, Wonka moves into a boarding house operated by Mrs. Scrubitt (Olivia Colman) after her behemoth of a henchman, Bleacher (Tom Davis), tricks him into moving in.
Scrubitt requires Wonka to sign a lengthy contract that forces him and other boarders into working in launderette underneath the boarding house. Wonka doesn't read the small print before signing, which is how he's conned into this predicament. Scrubitt also requires Wonka to pay an outrageous fee in order to get out of his contract, which he obviously can't pay.
At the boarding house, Wonka meets a young girl named Noodle (Calah Lane) who ends up helping him get his business off the ground.
Wonka is also attempting to capture a little green faced, orange haired man (played by Hugh Grant) who keeps stealing his chocolates during the night. This guy, of course, is an Oompa-Loompa, who wants restitution for "stolen" cocoa beans Wonka took from Loompa Land.
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| Timothée Chalamet as Wonka in the "Wonka." |
Right away, I found the story enjoyable with a smooth flow and memorable characters. It has the feel of an old-fashioned musical. Most of the songs are catchy and pulls ears in straight away. "Wonka" is successful at being a fun family movie.
While Gene Wilder plays an unpredictable and hard-to-read Willy Wonka in the original film, Chalamet makes the titular character a more ambitious beginner who carries a convincing eager determination. Despite his masterful craft as a magician and candy maker who so naturally can wow crowds, there are scenes where he's still human and vulnerable.
It struck me at various parts of the movie as to why Wonka would later take to young Charlie Bucket in the 1971 movie. Both come from humble backgrounds, are attached to their respective families from whom they draw inspiration, and both have self-less attitudes. They also have their shortcomings and recognize them as such.
Unfortunately, Grant's performance as Lofty, the Oompa Loompa, is dull and uninspired. It was as though Grant was going through the motions to get his parts over with as fast as he could, grab his paycheck, and go home. Thankfully, that didn't spoil the movie for me.
Aside from Chalamet, Keegan-Michael Key is the most entertaining actor in the story. Key is hilarious in his role as he has a knack for putting a lot of character and effort into his comedic roles. He is a natural at comedy.
"Wonka" sets out to amuse and charm audiences, which it pleasantly accomplishes. It tries to pull on the emotional heartstrings of its audience, but the feel-good elements hinder that.
The story is full of optimism as Wonka doesn't allow any out-of-the-ordinary difficulties, such as being suckered into involuntary servitude at a launderette, hinder him from working towards his goals. He simply plans around every obstacle to do the work he needs to do. It's a moral I can get behind. There's a ton of room for a fascinating story about how Wonka gets his factory and his reputation off and running. This movie manages to depict something imaginative and worthwhile.
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