By Alice Wright
Paul King’s Wonka is like a box of Quality Street at Christmas. Colourful, memorable and perfect for the job.
I almost forgot what it was like to sit and enjoy the moment but watching Wonka transported me into another world where I slipped back into my childhood for 117 minutes to a magical musical world.
This movie filled my inner child with warmth as King blends the unbelievable with the peculiar. From flying chocolate to a laundry prison this musical fantasy film pays homage to the book and previous films, but also keeping itself unique. It tells a story of friendship and togetherness while reminding the audience to embrace that inner child and cherish the small things.
An exciting reinvention of Willie Wonka’s origin story where he finds help from others to achieve his dreams. Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in the central city with the dream of building his own chocolate empire and remains optimistic about his ambitions despite having ‘one silver sovereign’ in his pocket.
Upon his arrival he’s met by the chocolate cartel, a trio of corrupt chocolatiers, that will stop at anything to deny Willie from achieving his dreams of opening a store in the Galeries Gourmet.
Timothee Chalamet’s portrayal of the classic chocolate connoisseur is special. Wonka is a young and ambitious boy who starts with nothing but a dream, hoping to build his own chocolate empire. There were doubts, but Chalamet was the perfect choice and almost resembles a young Gene Wilder. Pure Imagination is an iconic song associated with Willie Wonka and he captured it beautifully.
The casting for this movie was perfect from Chalamet himself to the rest of this star-studded cast. It includes some iconic British actors and comedians such as Rowan Atkinson, Matthew Baynton and Olivia Coleman, who bring their characters so much life and energy through their performances. Despite criticism over the choice of Hugh Grant playing an Oompa Loompa (Lofty) he embodies the personality of the classic ‘little orange man’ by managing to appear judgemental and funny at the same time.
‘Wonka’ exceeded all expectations. This heart-warming reinvention captures the magic of Roald Dahl’s book in a way that is both nostalgic and a breath of fresh air. Timothee Chalamet redefines the role of Willy Wonka into an optimistic and mischievous boy who hopes to change the world one bite of chocolate at a time.
