Wonka (2023) Review
I’m a couple weeks late but I was finally able to check out Wonka, the latest adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl novel, Willy Wonka. I was fairly excited for this movie due to the trailers giving off this very charming feel to it. So I was excited I was finally able to see it, but how is the movie? Let’s get started!
The Good:
Right off the bat, this movie was exactly what I hoped it would be. Which is, it’s a very fun and charming movie that is perfect for the entire family. I’m not a big Willy Wonka fan, I believe I’ve seen the Gene Wilder film from the 1970s, but it’s been a while. I’ve never seen the Johnny Depp adaptation from 18 years ago. So when they announced this movie, I was kind of shaking my head as it felt like a totally pointless cash grab. But the thing that really sold me about the film was that first trailer, that just looked fun and charming. That’s what sold me on the film and made me want to go and see it. I was hoping that no matter if the movie was good or bad, the movie would at least deliver on the promise of the trailer and it did. There isn’t any cynicism in here, there are bad guys here but they aren’t really all that evil. The inherent nature of why they’re evil is kind of over the top and weird but it’s still fun and charming. It can also be very funny, with a very sharp sense of humor about it. My audience was laughing out loud through-out the entire film. It’s the type of movie that is perfect for the whole family. I think the entire family can go and see this movie and have a good time. And there’s several different reasons as to why this movie works.
The cast here is very good and appropriately delightful. Everybody in here is super fun, there’s not that one weak link that holds the movie done. The big one to talk about is Timothee Chalamet as Willy Wonka. Chalamet is one of these actors that I’m a massive fan of, I have no hate. But he doesn’t put out enough movies that really interest me. I’ve seen him in Dune (2021) and I’m excited for Dune: Part II. But this is easily the best I’ve seen him in. Where he can do everything in the film, he can be fun and charming. He can be witty and clever and this guy that outsmarts the police at points. No matter what he has to portray, he can portray it rather well. And it makes me want to see Chalamet do more roles like this, he’s great at being dramatic. But this shows he’s much more versatile as an actor. The other stand-out, probably the scene stealer would be Hugh Grant and an Oompa Loompa. I actually really like Hugh Grant and his sense of humor and he has a lot of great laughs. This is very much a Hugh Grantified version of an Oompa Loompa with the personality of him. And what’s so much fun about Chalamet and Grant in their respective roles is I wouldn’t have picked either for their roles. But they turned out to be great and just having a lot of fun in the process. But everybody here is very good. The supporting cast has Keegan Michael-Key, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, and several other familiar faces that make the movie what it is.
The other part of the film that worked for me and kind of surprised me, it’s a musical. You have musical numbers all throughout the film and the movie didn’t really market it as a musical. But the musical numbers are done very well, they’re shot very well and they’re so dynamic and lively. The songs and what happens during the musical numbers stick with you. Now I’m not a massive fan of musicals, I like musicals. I think when done right, musicals can be very good. This is one that is done very well and even as I’m writing this blog post, I’m wanting to listen to the soundtrack. I was doing some research on the film trying to see who wrote the music. Based on my research, the song writers don’t have much credits under them. But they did a great job and I hope other studios and producers see their work in this movie and hire them for other musicals.
And the movie is appropriately weird and wacky. Again, I’m not a massive Willy Wonka fan. I’m also not a massive Roald Dahl fan. I’ve read several of these books before, but he’s not an author that I’m super invested in. I know that all of his books have this weird and quirky vibe about them and I feel like this movie tackles that but in a different way from the 1971, Gene Wilder version of the film. Where that one is kind of famous for being weird in a creepy way. This one is also very weird but in a very delightful and endearing way. They even have this weird world building with different chocolate companies trying to stop Wonka from making chocolate. That is so fantastical and over the top by nature, but just works. And it adds to the fun and charming vibe over the entire thing.
Finally, while the movie is very fun, weird, and wacky it can also have a heart to it. They give Wonka a motivation for why he’s doing what he’s doing that ties into his mother. Even the little girl in the movie has an emotional arc and journey that she’s on in the film. All of it has emotionally satisfying pay off in the final moments of the film. They found just the right amount of emotion and heart put in there to ground and anchor this larger than life story.
The Bad:
The first thing that comes to mind is some of the side characters felt underused and the casting felt like stunt casting. If you don’t know what stunt casting means, essentially it’s when you take a small cameo role in a movie that gets a big name actor to play them. This movie has two examples of stunt casting where they feel overqualified for the roles they’re given. The two I’m referring to are Keegan Michael-Key and Rowan Atkinson. Now both of them are very funny people and they fit the movie they’re in. And they do some very funny stuff with them, mainly Keegan Michael-Key and what happens to him as the movie goes along. But there isn’t much in the material that gives them much to do. Rowan Atkinson is very funny, but he’s only in 5-10 minutes of the movie. And there’s some fun stuff that happens in his sequences, but it’s the stuff around him that’s fun. Nothing that Atkinson does himself is super memorable. It was a bit distracting, mainly with Rowan Atkinson. I wish they got someone less famous and iconic to play his character.
The other part of the film that didn’t quite work for me, the movie can take a little while to get going. I think this is a movie that gets better as it goes along. The first act isn’t bad by any means, but it’s not until the Wonka’s hijinks in the film start to kick in is where I felt invested in the film. It does a lot of set-up in the first 20-30 minutes and felt like it dragged a bit in the first act of the film.
Final Thoughts: I’ll say this, I think that Wonka is the perfect family movie of the season. If you’re looking for a movie to take the entire family to, this is a good one. It’s so charming and endearing, the cast is great. Chalamet and Grant are the standouts for me. It’s apparently weird and wacky but in a charming and fun way. I was pleasantly surprised by the film, so it’s one of the better movies of 2023.
The Score: 8.7/10 (B+)
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