Wonka sort of manages to be two things at once, a charming and delightful little piece of whimsy that makes you smile, and a rather forgettable film whose vanilla characters and music float away as soon as you walk out of the theatre. I enjoyed myself throughout but nothing about it felt like it resonated beyond just a simple pleasant feeling. It's hard to pin down how Wonka doesn't capture the magic that the source material that inspired it does but perhaps its because it feels like a pale imitation.
The best thing going for Wonka is its star. Chalamet commits to the role and delivers being delightfully adorable throughout. He jettisons any of the weighty angst he can be known for in films like Dune or Call Me By Your Name to be an inspiring optimist who lifts all around him and does so with a playful energy that is just infectious. I worry this might miss the mark of the character a bit (more on this later), but he is captivating to watch throughout as his idiot savant character successfully magics solutions to every problem he encounters.
The rest of the characters, despite a quite remarkable cast, are one note and mostly forgettable (even Lane who has such incredible screen presence). It not really the casts fault. They are all showing up (Colman is clearly having a good time with her villain role). The script just doesn't flesh them out of offer them anything other than filling a role in Willy's story.
And the songs are just like the movie, rather pleasant but generally forgettable. For me this is the real test of a musical. I need to leave humming the songs or else it hasn't really won me over. This is highlighted by the fact that they use Pure Imagination from the 1971 Wilder movie and it is just 10x more of a song so every time it comes on it helps you forget the rest. The cast do a great job singing (again Chalamet shines here) and the dance numbers are all fun (although none really blow your mind) and the songs are terrible. While they are on they are catchy and light. They just have no weight.
As I alluded to before perhaps one of my biggest disappointments was how Wonka, perhaps, feels like it misses the point of the character. Dahl's character has a darkness to him that both the Wilder and Depp film versions lean into and it's missing here. The villains are cartoony and lack the insidiousness that Dahl creates in his characters. But it's Willy himself, here such a gleeful ray of light, that just has none of the dark corners that is there in the books and the previous films. One could argue "this is a prequel and showing him before" but nothing in this film suggests he'll ever be anything more than sugar and spice and everything nice and that just isn't who Willy Wonka is.
Still having said all that I enjoyed Wonka for what it is. A light and tasty treat that might be rather forgettable in the end.
Wonka
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan Michael-Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Matthew Baynton,
Director: Paul King
Writers: Simon Farnaby, Paul King
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