TL;DR – A delightful romp through Wonka’s past, full of musical energy and more than a few full-belly laughs.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Wonka Review –

I am going to be perfectly honest with you from the start, when I heard that there was going to be a prequel based on the back story of Willy Wonka, I could not help but roll my eyes. The constant francisation of the cinema landscape has led to many of these projects that just feel like they are going through the motions rather than having anything interesting to say. However, now that I have seen it, I am glad to say that I was wrong.

So to set the scene, we open as Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in a mysteriously unnamed European City. He has spent the past few years sailing around the globe, finding the best combinations for chocolates, and he is now ready to share them with the work at the famous Galleries Gourmet. But Wonka has a kind view of the world and is not prepared to be crushed by the Chocolate Cartel run by Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton). Nor does he read the small print before taking a room in Scrubbit’s (Olivia Colman) Laundry as recommended by Bleacher (Tom Davis), a less-than-savoury individual. However, just when things are at their lowest is when you can really shine, and his new friend Noodle (Calah Lane) helps him find that.

The biggest surprise for me, once the credits rolled, was that I did not suspect that this was going to be a Musical, and to be clear, it does not sneak a musical in. It announces it loud and proud from the opening moments of the film. I am not sure why I was surprised that Timothée Chalamet was a fantastic singer; it might be my Dune preconceptions sneaking in. However, he brings a perfect joyous energy to the role. You do really feel that this could have been a younger Wonka before he hated people for reasons. All of the songs are fun, and I respect that they know when to put an original song and when to link back to the 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory adaptation.

But while Timothée is the heart of the film, he is surrounded by an extended supporting cast who all give outstanding performances. Everyone understands what kind of film they are in and is playing to that with full-gusto. It should go without saying that Olivia Colman is a delight who chews every bit of scenery that she can get her hands on. Her back and forth with Tom Davis gives some of the best belly laughs of the film. We get cameos galore, which is where it was nice to see Rowan Atkinson again. There are so many British actors that you start to wonder where you know a lot of them from, only to discover binge-watching Taskmaster finally paid off. I know that Hugh Grant is on record that he did not have a good time filming the Oompa-Loompa scenes in the film. But you can’t see that in the final product because he is his usual charming self.

From a thematic perspective, Wonka is exploring a lot of quite heavy topics. There is poverty, exploitative labour, class clashes, and illegal entrenchment of wealth. These are handled surprisingly well for a film that is primarily a comedy. However, they are held in equal stead with questions like “Can humans drink giraffe milk?” a question that now haunts my search history for all time. For those wondering, the answer looks like a surprising yes. However, while it dabbles in these themes, it does not want to explore them thoroughly, and the ending of the film becomes a bit too neat on that front. Adding to this, some moments walk right up to the edge of body shaming that I am not sure will age well, and you can feel the energy drop off after the heist portion of the film.

In the end, do we recommend Wonka? Much to my surprise, the answer is yes. I honestly had a blast throughout this film, and it was a joy to get a couple of good, full-belly laughs at the shenanigans on screen. The cast is a delight, the effects all work, and they have some songs that may have gotten lodged in my brain. If you liked Wonka, we would recommend to you The Bad Guys.    

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Wonka
Directed by – Paul King
Screenplay by – Paul King & Simon Farnaby
Story by – Paul King
Based on – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Music by – Joby Talbot & Neil Hannon
Cinematography by – Chung-hoon Chung
Edited by – Mark Everson
Production/Distribution Companies – Village Roadshow Pictures, Heyday Films, The Roald Dahl Story Company, Universal Pictures & Warner Bros Pictures.
Starring – Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Natasha Rothwell, Rich Fulcher, Rakhee Thakrar, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Simon Farnaby, Colin O’Brien, Ellie White, Sophie Winkleman, Murray McArthur, Tracy Ifeachor, Isy Suttie, Phil Wang & Tim Fitzhigham
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: na; New Zealand: PG; United Kingdom: PG; United States: PG