The original 1971 鈥淲illy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory鈥� may have been a delicious dream, lined with trees of gumballs and fields of lollipops. But never has there been a more cautionary tale about the danger of too much of a good thing.
Magical as that Roald Dahl-scripted film was, it remains lodged in our imaginations less for its sugary goodness than the way darkness, satire and even mania ebb around its edges 鈥� flowing down that nightmarish watery tunnel and pooling somewhere in the back of Gene Wilder鈥檚 eyes. Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe may bubble with laughter all the way up the ceiling, but there鈥檚 a spinning metal blade up there.
鈥淲onka,鈥� the , bears no such danger. It鈥檚 going more for the taste of an Everlasting Gobstopper 鈥� an ingenious confection that piles flavor on top of flavor. Tasty though that can be, you miss the daring of Dahl in the more wanly whimsical 鈥淲onka.鈥�
Still, the movie has two big things going for it: the charisma of its winning star, Timoth茅e Chalamet, and the dazzling designs of its director, Paul King, the don of 鈥淧addington.鈥� To a large degree, King has applied much of the formula that defined 鈥淧addington鈥� 鈥� and that 鈥淕odfather Part II鈥� of sequels, 鈥� to a Wonka origin story that populates a delightfully detailed world with a delightful array of supporting characters (many of whom are 鈥淧addington鈥� veterans). Did I say it's delightful?
Yet it's that strain to delight that keeps 鈥淲onka鈥� from achieving liftoff. King's film is lively but too neutered to do Dahl justice; congenial but not clever enough to match the giddy joy of 鈥淧addington 2." If Tim Burton鈥檚 2005 film, with Johnny Depp giving Wonka a Michael Jackson spin, leaned into creepiness, 鈥淲onka鈥� goes the opposite direction.
And you might fairly wonder: What鈥檚 so wrong that? Who doesn鈥檛 want a cynicism-free, candy-colored charm overload? 鈥淲onka鈥� may be too much of a good thing, but for many (particularly kids) it will surely, well, delight. Even for a movie predicated on retooling IP, 鈥淲onka鈥� comes across as remarkably sincere in its feel-good aspirations.
In the film鈥檚 opening scenes, Willy (Chalamet) breezes into a frigid, unnamed European-styled city, singing 鈥淚鈥檝e got nothing to offer but my chocolate and a hatful of dreams.鈥� He arrives like a too-confident traveling salesman, eager to sell his chocolate to the world.
Immediately fleeced of his few coins, Willy sets down on a bench for the night and pulls a candle out of his hat that he lights with a gentle blow. He's offered a bed for the night at inn. There, the innkeeper Mrs. Scrubit (Olivia Colman) and her henchman Bleacher (Tom Davis) trap needy drifters into years of indentured labor with elaborate contracts.
This Wonka can't read, a twist that I doubt Dahl would have endorsed, given how much, for him, reading and imagination were intertwined. Before Willy has even gotten started, he finds himself imprisoned with a handful of other similarly misfortunate souls, including the young Noodle (a very natural Calah Lane).
But inspired by his late mother (Sally Hawkins, seen in tender childhood flashbacks), Willy isn鈥檛 much daunted in his dream to open a shop alongside other candy makers in the Galeries Gourmet. He manages to escape repeatedly to dazzle customers with chocolates of exotic ingredients before slipping through manhole covers to make a getaway, like
Sensing the potential power of Wonka鈥檚 enchanting chocolates (some cause levitation), the monopolizing local chocolatiers 鈥� Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) 鈥� band together to squash Willy with the aid of a chocolate-addicted police chief (Keegan-Michael Key), whose waistline expands throughout the film.
That bit, like most others in the film, doesn鈥檛 quite land despite the good cheer it鈥檚 delivered with. 鈥淲onka鈥� assembles a wide array of top-notch comic actors 鈥� not only Key and Colman but Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa; Simon Farnaby (who co-wrote the script with King) as a security guard, mirroring his 鈥淧addington 2鈥� cameo; and Rowan Atkinson as a corrupt priest.
But most of the jokes in 鈥淲onka鈥� are as memorable as its songs. The gag of Grant, the 鈥淧addington 2鈥� MVP, smothered in orange makeup and green hair as a proudly debonair Oompa Loompa, is never quite as clever as the movie thinks it is. (On the press trail for the film, Grant has been )
Neil Hannon鈥檚 songs are generic, but Chalamet sings them well. When a few notes from Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley鈥檚 鈥淧ure Imagination鈥� float by, they only serve as a reminder to how much better the tunes were in the original.
I may be being too hard on 鈥淲onka.鈥� This is an eminently pleasant movie, propped up by its indefatigable good cheer and King's immaculately tidy craftsmanship. The costumes (Lindy Hemming), cinematography (Chung-hoon Chung) and, in particular, the ingenious production design (Nathan Crowley) craft a wonder-filled backdrop. A film doesn鈥檛 need scenery this good for Chalamet to carry it. His Wonka is simpler and brighter than Wilder鈥檚, more a figure of pure optimism, like Paddington.
But we鈥檝e also had some exemplary Dahl adaptations lately that didn鈥檛 forget that worlds of imagination come alive when the cruelties of life and of childhood aren鈥檛 just paid lip service. (Veruca Salt or Mike Teavee, for instance, wouldn鈥檛 fit anywhere in 鈥淲onka.鈥�) I鈥檓 thinking of Wes Anderson鈥檚 inventive , released this fall on Netflix, and Matthew Warchus鈥� terrific from last year. 鈥淲onka鈥� is a more mixed addition: More tailored for kids yet less about childhood.
鈥淲onka,鈥� a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for 鈥渟ome violence, mild language and thematic elements.鈥� Running time: 116 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
