Wonka
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 🎶Oompa Loompa Do ba de do, have I got another Wonka for you.
Stay right here and read on this page, Timothee Chalamet will make you engaged!🎶 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wonka is a 2023 musical fantasy film directed and co-written by Paul King (who also did the Paddington movies) starring Timothee Chalamet as Wonka as he starts out his journey from a magician to the chocolatier we know today.
Plot
Aspiring chocolatier Willy Wonka must pay off his debts while achieving his dreams on becoming the greatest chocolatier to mankind.
Why It's Scrumdidilyumptious
- Timothee Chalamet does a great job as Willy Wonka, capturing the whimsical, clueless, and mysterious nature of Wonka at the same time.
- Aside from Chalamet, the other performances are great as well. Especially Hugh Grant as the Lofty the Oompah Loompah.
- Beautiful visuals, which is surprising given its modest $125 million budget.
- The sets are great, everything is colorful and whimsical yet it doesn't feel like an eyesore.
- Incredible and catchy songs. Pure Imagination and Oompa Loompa make a return, while new songs like You Never Had Chocolate Like This and Sweet Tooth are nice as well.
- Good pacing.
- Paul King offers great direction, especially since he directed the Paddington movies.
- Incredibly funny moments like Ficklegruber almost always throwing up whenever the word "poor" is mentioned.
- Many heartwarming moments like Wonka's mother making the last chocolate bar for her son before passing away, with Wonka later sharing that bar to his friends.
- Also once he opens the bar, he sees a message in a golden ticket, a call forward to Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, saying that chocolate is best shared for everyone.
- During the credits, we get an Oompah Loompah singing his casual theme while giving off a "where are they now" segment to Wonka's friends as a neat bonus to those who stay for the credits. Especially satisfying since Scrubitt and Bleacher get arrested for their crimes in the mid-credits scene.
Bad Qualities
- While Chalamet is great as Wonka, some argue that he isn't as brilliant as Gene Wilder's interpretation. Granted, this is a tough act to follow as Gene put so much charm into his role that he became the face of Wonka since.
- Noodle being Slugworth's niece was a pretty obvious twist.
Reception
Wonka received positive reviews from critics, praising the performances, soundtrack, and sense of nostalgia. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 236 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "With director Paul King at the helm and some solid new songs at the ready, the warmly old-fashioned Wonka puts a suitably sweet spin on the classic character while still leaving some room for the source material's darker undertones."