Direction: Paul King
Country: USA
In Paul King’s Wonka, a musical comedy that serves as a prequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), a younger and creatively inclined Willy Wonka, portrayed by the French sensation Timothée Chalamet, takes his first steps in the art of making chocolate and magic. To establish his own business and make it prosper, Willy must contend with exploiters Mrs. Scrubitt (Olivia Colman) and her partner Bleacher (Tom Davis), along with a trio of envious businessmen and saboteurs controlling the Chocolate Cartel. Success might be elusive without the help of Noodle (Calah Lane), a young orphan girl, and Oompa-Lumpa (Hugh Grant), a small human who feeds on cocoa beans.
Visually sumptuous with deluxe, colorful settings, Wonka struggles to win hearts with its cardboard characters. The movie appears to lack a genuine sense of humor, and the script by King and Simon Farnaby relies on questionable options, resorting to overused cinematic tricks and treats.
As a sanitized tale that succumbs to the weight of its budget, Wonka comes across as formulaic and uninspiring. The excessive use of old-school songs becomes tedious, and the story lacks the expected magic and soul that usually populate this type of picture. The film falls short across the board, and even Chalamet's charm fails to elevate the bland cinematic flavors. At the very least, the film may leave you craving chocolate.
