Close your eyes and count to ten…
Wonka starts with a young Willy Wonka moving to a new town to sell his whimsical Chocolate at the Gallery Gourmet with nothing but a “hat full of dreams”. He unwittingly finds himself stuck in a slave contract at Scrubbit & Bleachers where he meets a precocious girl named Noodle. In order to achieve his dreams he must go against the Chocolate Cartel of Slugworth, Prodnose, and Fickelgruber – the legendary chocolatier’s of the Gallery Gourmet who will do whatever it takes to ensure that they do not lose their profits to the young upstart. With the help of Noodle and the other prisoners at Scrubbit & Bleachers, Wonka tries to achieve his dreams while his chocolate is regularly stolen by a tiny orange man with green hair.
Whether you grew up reading Roald Dahl’s books, watching the 1976 and 2005 movies, or none of the above, there is something here for you. The movie is delightfully whimsical and is a beautiful tribute to Roald Dahl’s beloved character and the movies that came before it. Wonka’s innocence and naivety is charming and it is easy to root for him from the get go. It is a movie that can appeal to children as well as adults. There is a beautiful message and fantastical world that children will love while the movie deals with adult themes like corruption, trying to succeed as a small business owner, water-tight contracts, monopolies, manipulation, and prison breaks that will appeal to an older crowd.
Wonka boasts a star studded cast led by Timothee Chalamet. Willy Wonka was originally brought to screen by Gene Wilder in 1976’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and more recently by Johnny Depp in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So, Chalamet had some pretty big shoes to fill. Chalamet’s Wonka is younger, more naive, optimistic and human than the established Wonka’s that Wilder and Depp played. The movie is hilarious, the cast is incredible, and the story has a way of bringing out your inner child and leave you wide-eyed and full of wonder.
There are some beautiful nods to the original movie with the way he walks up and down the stairs, to dropping his last silver sovereign in the sewer (Charlie finds a silver sovereign in the sewer which leads him to the last golden ticket), the Orange Oompa Loompa (Hugh Grant) and his song, and of course Pure Imagination. And these are just some of the endless easter eggs in the movie!
Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination…
