A sweet delight of a film that leaves you beaming from ear to ear.
It would be fair to ask whether another film adaptation based around Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is necessary but this film focusing on Willy Wonka himself is a colourful and charming film that has plenty of magic to captivate.
Wonka is a film all about dreams and making them a reality, as we see him trying to make his fortune by using the chocolate recipes created by his mother. But his attempts to revolutionise the chocolate making industry are hampered by the so-called chocolate cartel (also know as Slugworth, Fickelgruber and Prodnose – who also feature in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), fellow chocolate makers who are dishonest about their own business. Yet help comes in the form of the friends he meets along the way including Noodle and rather dry humoured Oompa Loompa (played delightfully well by Hugh Grant) as they attempt to take the chocolate world by storm.
Featuring a script by Paul King (who also directs) and Simon Farnaby, it feels delightfully Roald Dahl in tone – even if it feels as though it has gone down a more sentimental route than the darkness he is known for, the sentimentality is never excessive. The scenes in which involve Mrs Scrubitt (Olivia Coleman) and Bleacher feel particularly Roald Dahl like, with the character’s bearing a little similarity to Dahl’s The Twits. Elsewhere the schemes of the chocolate cartel and the finale are gleefully delightful that it is difficult not to leave the film feeling uplifted and well entertained. The only question that you are left with is how does this Wonka reconcile with the reclusive character who appears in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory? It is easy to leave feeling as though the character himself is still a little bit of mystery – it doesn’t delve deep into his background as much as you would expect.
The songs are all quite fun and catchy, with again a sense of Roald Dahl’s rhythmic quality in his own writing – particularly heard in the catchy ‘Scrub Scrub’, matched with a hilarious sequence as well. But of course, it is the classic ‘Pure Imagination’ that really pulls on the heartstrings emotionally, although it is also lovely to hear Hugh Grant’s take on ‘Oompa Loompa’.
Just as with Paddington, Paul King knows how to provide plenty of magic and imagination to scenes and it is clear he has had a lot of fun making this film. Wonka’s inventions really come to life – with a scene in which he gets his first shop is beautifully built up and brings a childlike joy to proceedings (and offers a hint at what his actual factory will feature), while the props maker really deserves credit for the box in which holds all of Wonka’s means of creating chocolate on the go as it is an amazing feat and can’t have been easy to have put together.
But oh what a wonderful cast that has been put together here. At the centre of it all Timothée Chalamet as Wonka is impish and graceful, bringing to mind Gene Wilder’s take on the character in the 1971 film, but it clear he has put his own flair on the character. He is quirky and slightly eccentric but it is a lovely nuanced performance that works on every level. It is also easy to appreciate the lovely relationship his character has with Noodle, played with great warmth by Calah Lane (who also has some lovely vocals as heard on ‘For a Moment’). Olivia Coleman and Tom Davis as Mrs Scrubitt and Bleacher are hilariously nasty, Hugh Grant really steals every scene that he is in as the Oompa Loompa and Paterson Joseph is suitably villainous as Slugworth. There is also fabulous support from Matt Lucas as Prodnose and Matthew Baynton as Ficklegruber putting their comedy skills to great use.
Charming, entertaining and magical, Wonka does it what it sets out to do: capture the heart and imagination.
By Emma Clarendon
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐