My Review of Wonka (2023)

Written by Simon Farnaby And Paul King

Directed by Paul King

Wonka: "I've spent the past seven years travelling the world, perfecting my craft. You see I'm something of a magician, inventor, and chocolate maker. So quiet up and listen down. No, scratch that, reverse it."

Ah, it's Christmas month and of course, it's the perfect time for a musical. On top of that, how about a musical that's also a prequel for Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet)? That's what you're getting here.

The movie started with our whimsical protagonist arriving in an unnamed European city (it's basically London in all but name) in an ambitious bid to make and sell chocolate. Unfortunately for Wonka, there's a few characters in this movie that make that one goal difficult for him.

The most prominent being the Chocolate Cartel, made up of rival chocolatiers Arthur Slugworth (Patterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Ficklegruber (Matthew Baynton). They're comically boo hiss worthy villains who have no qualms resorting to bribing the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) in order to derail Wonka's ambitions and that's the least worst thing they end up doing.

Throughout the movie, they're the baddies who not only have the police on the payroll but also the clergy with Rowan Atkinson as a chocolate obsessed priest. Even when Willy does manage to get a shop open, they resort to the worst trickery. That and an attempt that really does put a more literal spin on the term "death by chocolate."

As for the secondary villains of the bunch, you've got the terrible Mrs Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and her accomplice Bleacher (Tom Davis) who have Willy a debt by having him work in the launderette for 10,000 hours. It's here we get Willy's support system with orphan girl Noodle (Calah Lane), plumber Piper (Natasha Rothwell), accountant Abacus (Jim Carter), failing performer Larry (Rich Fulcher) and telephone operator, Lottie (Rahkee Thakrar).

They're a likeable bunch of characters who go out of their way to help Willy with his chocolate dreams while he in return gets their freedom back. The emphasis however was largely on Noodle who had a kinship with Wonka as well as a link to Slugworth. Noodle also got her own happy ending being reunited with her mother (Tracy Ifeachor).

As for the Oompa Loompa part of the movie, well their role are smaller but a disgraced one named Lofty (Hugh Grant) certainly made an impression on Wonka as they initially butted heads before being a team by the third act. It's a fun performance from Grant, who made the most of his limited screen time.

- There's a few Paddington links here, which makes sense considering the director. Sally Hawkins briefly appears as Wonka's mother.

- Oompa Loompa cocoa beans weren't the only ingredient. Giraffe milk was needed for Willy's chocolate and we had Abigail the giraffe.

- Post credit scene has the Oompa Loompa show us what happened to Mrs Scrubbit and Bleacher and it wasn't pleasant.

- Apparently this is supposed to be the first movie in a potential cinematic universe for Ronald Dahl. I guess we're ignoring The Witches then.

- Standout music: Of course we got Pure Imagination and Oompa Loompa but there was also You've Never Had Chocolate Like This, Scrub Scrub, A World Of Your Own, Sweet Tooth, Sorry Noodle and For A Moment.

- Chronology: An unspecified timeline but early 20th century by the looks of it. 

Wonka turned out to be a pure delight of a movie. Timothee Chalamet turned in a great performance as Wonka with this being a satisfying prequel to his chocolate factory. The supporting and villain characters were on great form, the musical numbers delighted and overal, this movie will be a lovely Christmas treat for families alike.

Rating: 8 out of 10