Wonkacan be seen in cinemas from December 15 is the latest attempt to expand Roald Dahl's story famous chocolatier. Perhaps the origin story of how Willy Wonka started his chocolate factory isn't a story anyone was clamoring for, and the casting of Timothée Chalamet makes it sound more like an IP-friendly vehicle for the star of the moment than an honest attempt. in making films for all ages.
But I'm here to say: director Paul King (Paddington, Paddington2) brought pure imagination to the assignment. It's a real movie, full of clever cinematography and real heart-warming moments. Surprise!
After I smiled through it Wonka, relieved that I still had the heart to enjoy a full blast of nicecore entertainment, I thought there were a few things most people would want to know about the film in advance. So if you have any doubts about seeing Wonkaor if you just want to walk in with the confidence of a young lad ready to put old candy makers out of business, consider the following:
Wonka is less than two hours long, but stick around for a post-credits scene
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
Wonka clocks in at a running time of 113 minutes (before the credits), and I'm happy to report that it never overstays its welcome. (Unless you hate fun, in which case you'll run for the door when the credits roll.) But if you stick around during the credits, you'll get a few bonuses.
First up, Hugh Grant's Oompa-Loompa character, Lofty, returns for another Oompa-Loompa song, inviting viewers to stay in their seats as he explains what happened to each character in the film. It's a nice ending for some of the charming but minor supporting players, and a final silly reward for the minor villains Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and Bleacher (Tom Davis). And if you're in it for any length of time, you get another surround-sound blast from Chalamet singing one of the film's earworms, “A World of Your Own.” Which brings me to another important point…
Wonka is a full-fledged musical
What compels studios to make movie musicals but never want to sell them as movie musicals? Personally, I blame the 2017 Hugh Jackman film The greatest showman, where trailers showed Jackman dancing and Zendaya speaking the words to songs, but no one actually sang. All the sweet original songs written for the film were relegated to backing tracks. Somewhat treacherous! But the movie made $435 million worldwide, so I guess the tactic worked.
Warner Bros. has taken a similar approach to sales Wonka. The trailers leave a vague feeling that this is a movie musicalbut not clear A musical. Well, that's exactly what it is: along the lines of Mary Poppins, The Music Manand other film musicals from the sixties, Wonka bursting at the seams with dance and songs, written by Neil Hannon.
British comedy fans know Hannon as the frontman of The Divine Comedy and the composer behind everything from IT people theme until recently Doctor who ballads. It's perfect for throwback tunes with Chalamet's airy tenor voice. 'You've Never Had Chocolate Like This' and 'Scrub Scrub' are personal favorites. Put together in Joby Talbot's delicate score, it is all truly whimsical. If you're normally averse to musicals, all I can say is: this is one of the good ones.
Technically it's a prequel to the 1971 Wonka film, not the book
Many die-hard Roald Dahl fans will complain that Chalamet's Wonka is a far cry from the Wonka of Dahl's children's books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory And Charlie and the big glass elevator. But King and his co-writer, Simon Farnaby, tread a certain path with their characterization of Wonka in this film: he's not just a young version of the character, he's specifically a young version of Gene Wilder's Wonka from 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
The rights to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory exist in a tricky gray area. In September 2021, Netflix acquired the Roald Dahl estate outright, with ambitious plans to adapt the author's stories in a variety of styles. A number of projects have been completed: Matilda the Musical debuted in December 2022, Wes Anderson's collection of Dahl shorts arrived on the platform last fall, and an animated film based on The Twitjes is currently scheduled for 2025. Netflix also made a big promise with the announcement: a TV series based on Chocolate factoryled by Taika Waititi and Wreck it Ralph writer Phil Johnston. There have been no updates on the project since the original announcement.
So how can Warner produce a full-fledged Wonka musical in 2023? Because the studio was at the forefront of Dahl mania. In 2016, Warner made a deal with the Dahl estate to relicense Wonka to preface the 1971 film (as opposed to that whole Tim Burton/Johnny Depp thing). Reports indicate that after Netflix took ownership of Wonka a few years later, the streamer opted to honor all existing relationships and plans, meaning Warner could continue to mine its own legacy.
Under Warner, King was able to nod directly to the original film's colorful production design, repurposing the songs (we get a new take on “Pure Imagination,” of course) and utilizing the green-haired Oompa-Loompa look that has become so iconic. Everything added to the film is made up rather than adapted; Unsurprisingly, the director also found a way to make Oompa-Loompa's racially insensitive backstory in the novel make sense in the Warner universe. But if Netflix manages to make its own Wonka thing, Waititi or whoever is in charge will have to outsmart the legacy of WB's approach. Remember how Sam Raimi is doing? Oz the great and mighty could not use the ruby slippers because they were invented before 1939 The Wizard of Oz, not the source material? Neither do we, but Netflix has to solve that in the coming years.
The film is packed with incredible British TV actors
Despite the rights issues, King is still giving Wonka a well-known but rare quirk by filling it with Dahl-isms. The film walks and talks like a Dahl book, from Mrs. Scrubbit, a classic evil authority figure, to a production design that seems conceptually tied to Quentin Blake's Dahl illustrations. And then there's the rat-a-tat dialogue, which was honored in Wes Anderson's Netflix shorts and made clearer in cinematic form.
The extremely British cast goes a long way: around the New York-born Chalamet revolve numerous experienced British funny people that American viewers may not appreciate. Olivia Colman is a well-known figure in prestige films these days, but in America she is less known for her early career in mining yuks in Channel 4 sitcoms such as Peep Show And Green Wing. Her Peep Show co-star Paterson Joseph is Wonka's MVP, in which he plays Arthur Slugworth.
Also on the bench: Tom Davis (Murder in Succesville), Matt Lucas (Little Britain, The Great British Bake-Off), Matthew Baynton (Ghosts), Rich Fulcher (The Mighty Evil), and a real king, Rowan Atkinson, of Black viper And Mr. Boon fame. Paul King doesn't completely rule out American comedians – Keegan-Michael Key and Natasha Rothwell also turn up and deliver – but it's nice that a cash-strapped Hollywood company can find room for many of Britain's best .
In one scene, Wonka milks a giraffe
No one has ever told me that they consider milking common zoo animals to be their specific phobia, but in case you need a heads up: WonkaWilly sneaks into a zoo to milk a giraffe. If you are one of those people who harbor an aversion to seeing giraffes being milked on screen, we recommend that you avoid it Wonkaor at least wait for it to stream on Max so you can continue.