Wonka

“”Wonka” tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.”

The original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a classic. Its timeless charm and innocence combined with imaginative sequences and songs never get old. The mystery of Willy Wonka and his magical empire of chocolate has always been a point of curiosity and rather than do another remake of the same original film/book it’s inspiring to see this origin story with a fresh and interesting take on the origins of the character.

Wonka tells the story of a young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) arriving in a big city ready to make his mark on the world by offering people chocolate like they’ve never tasted before. His life savings quickly and unexpectedly dwindles in the moments he arrives in town, and he’s offered a room at an inn by what he thinks to be a kind stranger willing to lend a hand. It isn’t until the next morning he gets an outrageous bill for anything and everything possible, and per the contract he signed the night before, he must work in servitude before the exorbitant bill is paid off. Here he meets Noodle (Calah Lane), a young orphan who has spent her entire life at the inn and her foreseeable future. They form a bond and with the help of the other people forced to work off their debt, they sneak out whenever possible to realize Willy’s dream of opening a chocolate store. There’s more that stands in their way: the Chocolate Cartel, a trio of chocolatiers who prevent any new business from starting while they secretly hold hordes of chocolate underneath the city.

It’s hard to imagine Willy Wonka as someone other than Gene Wilder, but after a moments of initial skepticism, all of that vanished watching Timothée Chalamet in the title role. He brings the same air of mystery, wonder, and gentleness that Wilder did. Maybe not the eccentricity and quirkiness of Wilder, but as a younger version of himself, he has the same innocence that he later looks for in other children to take over his factory. The supporting cast is fantastic as well, with each of the fellow indentured servants bringing something unique to the group as they not only work with Willy Wonka who’s promised to pay off their debt when he makes it big, but also work to fulfill their own hopes and dreams in bringing joy to the lives around them. The antagonists are exceptionally adept at their roles as well, with one of them, a familiar name we’ve never gotten a face: Slugworth (Paterson Joseph) who concocts some devious methods denying Willy and friends their goals. The Chocolate Cartel is aided by the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) whose hilarious transformation over the course of the film is a great source of laughs. Lest we not forget about Hugh Grant, who is probably one of the single best things about the film.

The songs in the film were surprisingly catchy, heartfelt, and overall, really well done. One particular song that really grew on me was “You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This”; funny, clever, with a visual sequence equally as impressive.

While Wonka is referred to as an ‘origin story’ of Willy Wonka, it feels more correct to call it ‘an adventure of young Willy Wonka’. Sure, we see the source of his desire to share his love of chocolate with the world: his mother, but this flashback is a very short portion of the film, and his character seems pretty well defined already in his morals and beliefs. I would have liked to see more character defining moments for him, and while the film by no means short of emotional sequences, it’s hard to compare this Willy Wonka and the older version and say definitively that these moments made him who he is. Perhaps it leaves room for additional stories to tell.

Wonka is out now to purchase digitally, and as of 2/27 is now out to own on DVD, Blu-ray and 4k UHD. The physical copies have loads of extras, so if you’re a fan of the film, owning a copy of it for the best visual and sound possible is the way to go.