Wonka Review

January 18, 2024 at 7:50pm
By Jason Stettner

This will be our third take on the whole concept of Willy Wonka when it comes to film and they’re all very strange movies. This is a musical, a genre I actually quite typically enjoy. It follows a younger Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) as he heads out to make his mark on the world.

He’s illiterate, overly ecstatic and believes the absolute best out of everyone or well everything. It’s a really bizarre look at life, but he has to believe that sort of thing to achieve his goal of being a chocolatier. Wonka along this journey does find himself on hard times, meeting Noodle (Calah Lane) an individual that helps ground ambitions and helps him build a bit of an empire.

It’s a very straight forward sort of movie, it’s one that’s nice for the family but really lacking in terms of substance or depth. It’s got some nice musical moments to it but no hits that really stand out as something I’d enjoy outside of the film’s context.

It’s just a really easy to consume piece of media, but one that doesn’t quite last long afterwards. It’s not nearly as creepy as Depp’s take nor as whimsically classic as Wilder’s. It works, but outside of being an easy going family film it’ll be one I won’t think of too far down the road.

It’s a very colorful, vibrant movie with fun moments of chocolate excitement. People will dance, a police officer will eat chocolate and strangely Rowan Atkinson will give a funny performance that really isn’t all that expected early on. With this being a musical there are many songs here and that’s where the lead Chalamet feels slightly miscast.

He hits that sort of wondrous charm and is willing to look crazy. It’s the musical moments that feel really light and sort of distract. It’s noticeable right from the opening and I was slightly worried right off the start. Other musical numbers do deliver, but outside of the nostalgic use of that original classic Pure Imagination I don’t really recall them outside of one saying chocolate many times over.

The Conclusion

Wonka is easy to consume media that feels rather forgettable in comparison to the prior two efforts we’ve seen based on this character in the past. I enjoyed the movie enough but it’s not really something I’d care to watch again. It had a sweet moment here or there but was largely driven by a nostalgic tune as opposed to something fresh.

Hugh Grant as an Oompa-Loompa was minimal and slightly disturbing? I don’t think Chalamet nailed this role outside of being really bizarre when needed. If you want an easy going chocolate based movie with a tad bit of wonder and some musical moments this is alright.

I wasn’t blown away by it, the film hasn’t left a long lasting mark and I think it’s mostly forgettable. It is fine for a viewing with the family, but if you’re wanting something deeper it’s a very straight forward almost bland sort of favoring. I may sound relatively negative towards the film but it really was overall just okay to take in.

Wonka Review at Theather with Standard Viewing

Rating Overall: 5.5