Movie Review: 'Wonka' is a Surprising Delight

Wonka (2023)

Directed by Paul King

Written by Simon Farnaby, Paul King

Starring Timothee Chalamet, Sally Hawkins, Olivia Coleman, Hugh Grant, Keegan Michael Key, Calah Lane

Release Date December 15th, 2023

Published December 5th, 2023

Wonka is a spectacular good time. This musical from director Paul King charts the origin of everyone's favorite chocolatier, Willy Wonka, played by Timothee Chalamet, from his time before he opened his magical chocolate factory. Pressing aside the Johnny Depp take on the character, Chalamet's Willy Wonka feels more like a spiritual predecessor to Gene Wilder's iconic take on the character. He's charming, he's funny, and he has just a slight hint of impish, prankish, bitterness to him. It's a wonderful performance from Chalamet who carries the film with the presence of a movie star.

Willy Wonka's early life was tragic. He lost his beloved mother, portrayed by Sally Hawkins, when he was quite young. But, her adventurous spirit lives on in her son who undauntedly threw himself into the world to seek his fortune and make his mother proud. Willy, also a magician by trade, has traveled the globe on just his wits and guts, and discovered flavors of chocolate that no one has ever dreamed of. He's managed to pack it all away in a magical suitcase with which he can whip up a unique chocolatey concoction on a whim.

Having arrived now in London for the first time, he's hoping to achieve the dream his mother always had, opening a Chocolate shop in the most famous chocolate market in the world. But first, Willy needs a place to stay. In a lovely opening song, Willy explains how much money he has before quickly parting with all of it as he helps out those in need. It's a lovely, graceful song that shows a generosity of spirit in Willy as he gives his last coin to young woman with a baby so that they can find a place to stay on this cold English night.

As for Willy, he's planning to bed down on a chilly bench when he's approached by a man named Bleacher (Tom Davis). Bleacher is a big intimidating and threatening man who appears to reveal a softer side when he tells Willy about a place to stay... on credit. Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Coleman) operates a boarding house where she will allow Willy to stay on the promise that he will pay for his room the following day. This comes with a caveat however as Willy has to sign a contract for his room. The contract is page after page after page of fine print. A naïve Willy decides to sign it anyway and that sets a portion of our plot in motion.

The other part of our plot is Willy selling chocolate in the same square where the chocolate cartel controls the chocolate trade. Slugworth (Patterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Fickelgruber (Matthew Baynton) are the chocolate mob. They've taken control of the chocolate trade in London and have rendered chocolate for the public bland while saving the best chocolate for themselves and to bribe public officials like the local Chief of Police (Keegan Michael Key) whom they pay in chocolte to keep all other chocolate makers out of the chocolate market.

Blundering into this conspiracy is Willy who immediately makes enemies of the Chocolate Cartel by sharing his newest chocolate invention, chocolates that make you float in the air. These delicious treats are a huge hit, so much so that the cartel has the Chief of Police try to run Willy off. The new rule instituted to stop Willy, and paid for by ill-gotten chocolates, is that one cannot sell chocolate without a shop. Willy, having no money and no shop is thus told he cannot sell chocolate at all. This doesn't stop Willy however, as he teams up with a new group of friends to sell enough chocolate under the nose of the Chief of Police, to open his own shop.

Willy's new friends are his fellow inmates at Mrs. Scrubbits boarding house. That contract Willy signed turned him into an indentured servant. He now has an unmeasurable debt that must be repaid by doing laundry, a sentence that could last for decades. But Willy, with the help of a young servant girl named Noodle (Calah Lane), has a way to get around this contract. But, he will need the help of his fellow captives, a colorful bunch of characters played by Rich Fulcher, Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, and Rakhee Thakrar.

This two prong story also makes room for the introduction of the famed Oompa Loompa, here portrayed by Hugh Grant. It's easy to imagine that if Wonka gets another prequel sequel we will see more of Grant's Oompa Loompa, Lofty, who will have an important role to play in the making of Willy Wonka's chocolate empire. Grant is having the time of his life in 2023 stealing scenes in blockbusters like Dungeons and Dragons, mid-range action flicks like Operation Fortune Rue De Guerre, and here as an enterprising Oompa Loompa, eager to break into song with little prompt.

I had a wonderful time watching Wonka. The music is wonderful, the production design is superb, and star Timothee Chalamet is the right mix of naive optimism and crafty magic. He's seen the dark side of life, the loss of his mother, and chooses to believe in the good as he looks to honor her memory. That gives Wonka a big warm beating heart at the center of what could have been another I.P capitalization in movie form. Chalamet and the entire cast of Wonka appear to care deeply about this material and making it the best it can be and their dedication along with that of talented director Paul King, makes Wonka a delightful bit of blockbuster fun.

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