Wonka is a musical family fantasy, a defacto prequel to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory/Wonka origin story. Wonka(Timothee Chalamet) arrives in an unnamed city(London?) after working as a ship's cook to open a chocolate shop. He is thwarted by the existing chocolatiers but with the help of some new friends and confectionary ingenuity he may come out on top!
Chalamet has flashes of eccentric brilliance but in aggregate his portrayal is too muted, too conventional, to uninspired to do the beloved character justice. Calah Lane as Noodle is wonderful as is Hugh Grant in his relatively brief role as an Oompa-Loompa and the rest of the supporting cast is full of talent but the music and the script just don't have much life in them so there's not much to be done. This is clearly not someone's passion project, it is a studio trying to use IP that they have and it doesn't have co-writer/director Paul King's typical humor or heart that he's displayed in the Paddington films.
Visually its pretty boring, it looks like a generic UK town, there's too much CGI and not enough physically built sets and props, the score is a bit on the nose and there is no breakout/catchy hit from the songs. It's not terrible, its mildly diverting but there's just not enough purpose or imagination behind it to justify revisiting this character and this world.
A lead actor beyond his depth, a script trying too hard to have broad appeal to be particularly appealing.
Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.
Stream It.
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