It turns out 2023 has one final Secret Santa treat for us, in the form of Paul King’s magical Wonka.
Effectively a prequel to 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (but working perfectly well in isolation), this delightful musical shows as the early life of Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet), as he arrives in an unnamed European city – equal parts Brussels, Zurich, and Victorian London. The down-at heel Wonka has spent his life to date travelling the world, learning all there is to know about candy, and he now wishes to fulfil his mother’s dream of establishing himself as a master chocolatier. But the city is an unforgiving place, and an established “chocolate cartel” of Slugworth, Prodnose and Ficklegruber will do anything to defend their positions against this good-hearted interloper.
King is best known for his work on the charming Paddington series, and he brings that magic to bear here, infusing Wonka’s past with just the right balance of darkness and whimsy. Chalamet, though less deranged and magisterial than Gene Wilder’s beloved interpretation, brings a wide-eyed enthusiasm and a touch of goofiness to the character.
The standard outs from the supporting cast are Paterson Joseph as the scrumptiously villainous Slugworth practically licking his lips at the prospect of consigning Wonka to endless indentured servitude in Olivia Colman’s laundry (between this and Paddington 2, King clearly has a thing about enforced laundry duties), and Keegan-Michael Key as the chief of police that Slugworth keeps under his candy-king thumb. Hugh Grant’s Oompa-Loompa is a bit of a one-gag character (he’s Hugh Grant, but small!) but Calah Lane proves to be perfectly charming as Noodle, the orphan Wonka befriends and whom proves his most trusted ally when his chocolatier dreams threaten to melt away,
Modern musicals are often such a hit-and-miss affair, and the trailer for Wonka has nervously attempted to conceal its nature from casual moviegoers, to an extent not seen since Tim Burton’s version of Sweeney Todd. But to my delight, the original songs by Neil Hannon (of The Divine Comedy) and captivating score by Joby Talbot elevate Wonka’s journey, capturing the emotional essence and fanciful nature of his world, and throwing in more lyrical gags than you can shake a candy cane at.
Best of all, this film is also a laugh-out-loud triumph, delivering more gags per minute than anything else in cinemas this year. It’s hard to say who’s responsible for what, but I suspect the secret ingredient here is Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Mindhorn) as co-writer. There’s a quirkiness and clear sensibility to the material that means the jokes don’t feel focussed grouped to death, yet they still feel like they’ll land well with a mass audience. That’s a difficult thing to pull off, but King and Farnaby succeed in giving this high-budgeted blockbuster a distinctive voice – no small feet in today’s IP-led algorithmic world. Much as in Paddington 2, Farnaby even treats himself to a fun cameo – here, a lovelorn zoo watchman who (like pretty much every character in the piece) has a character arc all of his own.
While Wonka works first and foremost as a standalone film, it does also act as a prequel, and is bound to attract comparisons to Mel Stuart’s 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. To my mind that earlier movie was a slightly patchy film wrapped around a stupendous Gene Wilder performance. Chalamet may not aim for the grabby delights of Wilder’s deranged psychopath, but he successfully delivers a lighter, more innocent version of the character – and in every other regard this new film is better, making it the best take yet on the titular confectioner. This iteration even made me cry with its perfectly timed heartstring tugs, something that Stuart certainly never managed.
King skillfully navigates between light-hearted moments and a subtler, darker undertone, exploring themes of ambition, corruption, and loss. Wonka is a visually enchanting and emotionally textured confection par excellence. King’s direction, Chalamet’s goofy-yet-earnest portrayal, Joseph’s deliciously greedy villain and the film’s musical and comedic flair all melt into a heartfelt fantasy, inviting audiences to rediscover the whimsical allure of Wonka’s candy-coloured world. Wonka is the family film of the year.
Review by Andrew Pope
Wonka opens in the United Kingdom on 8 December and in the United States on 15 December 2023
Whitlock&Pope 