'Wonka' Has Enough Imagination To Respect A Legacy
Visually dazzling (mostly) with a mediocre performance from Timothée Chalamet, Paul King's Wonka floats more than it soars. Catchy musical numbers accompany the film, as do some wonderful performances by the supporting cast. Color me surprised as Wonka is a fitting tribute to 1971's Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Is it as good as the original film? Not by a mile. Paul King is aware of that by making this a prequel to Willy Wonka instead of remaking it. We saw the nightmarish results of that in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—a film where Johnny Depp is replicating Michael Jackson more than he is Willy Wonka.
Wonka is a film made by a director who knows how to depict the light in society instead of Burton who depicts the darkness of humanity. Paul King's upbeat Paddington films are blistering with color, and Wonka is no exception. The film is like a cinematic rainbow. Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung's sweeping camera work and Nathan Crowley's production design brings a magical stage to life. The film's set design is marvelous. The amount of work Mr. Crowley had to put in is staggering. The movie acts as a stage play. Its locations are minimal, as it's more of a space for the performers to sing in. Still, the undisclosed town the movie inhabits is a massive full-scale set that avoids CGI buffoonery in favor of something physical. That's not to say the film is devoid of CGI. It has it, and when it uses it, it looks fake. None of that is more apparent than Hugh Grant's creepy CGI Oompa-Loompa.
Grant's performance is charming to the core. But the way he moves is distractingly animated. By digitizing Hugh Grant's head and body, the film produces something that looks like it should be in a Playstation 5 game. If not for Grant's snappy dialogue and appealing demeanor, I'd write this Oompa-Loompa off in favor of a shrunken dwarf. HG's Ooompa-Loompa is miniaturized to a tiny size where he fits in a jar. He's known as the shortest of the Loompas, hence why the film didn't have to cast a dwarf in the role. As for the upcoming live-action Snow White, that's a personal offense to dwarfs that deserves an entirely different discussion.
There are other CG elements that look off but are created in a way where that's supposed to be representative of imagination. For the most part, the film is visually incredible, but for the other part, it's another phony-looking CGI flick. I hate to use CGI as a slang term, but it has become one. It's a short reference to something that's done lazily on a computer rather than meticulously on set. When CG is meant to be invisible, it enhances a scene. When it does what isn't possible to do on camera, it can either look fake or real. By no means is CGI lazy, but it is overused. There are some effects in Wonka where I wonder if a few wires could have been used instead of a visual effects team. Did the flying candy really need to be animated?
Of course, the elephant in the room is Timothée Chalamet's performance. So how is it? Better than I thought it would be, but still not all there. Chalamet is known for playing intellectual, brooding characters, not charismatic, whimsical figures. Chalamet does an okay job embodying the positivity of Wonka as he speaks with a large uptick in his voice. Chalamet's portrayal of Wonka draws inspiration from Gene Wilder but can't come close to matching his level. Yet, who can? Such an iconic role is nearly impossible to match. Wilder had a natural sweetness in him that came through in Wonka in ways it's difficult for other actors to replicate. Timothée Chalamet has the thankless job of playing a younger version of a classic character.
It's like when Alden Ehrenreich had to be Han Solo. Harrison Ford is so cemented in that role that another actor playing it will be unfairly measured by the public. Timothée Chalamet is no Gene Wilder. But he tries, and I give him credit for that. The role requires Chalamet to sing and sing a lot. How is his singing? Just okay. It's clear there are some notes Chalamet can't hit, so his singing isn't required to go to any extreme in vocality. Nor did Gene Wilder have to accentuate his voice much in the numbers. As a teenage Willy Wonka, Chalamet fits the role fine.
Who's the most impressive is the supporting cast. The owner of the hotel Wonka gets imprisoned at is played delightfully by Olivia Colman. Mrs. Scrubbit is a dirty-teethed wench who uses people's hospitality to her conniving advantage. Colman is having a blast with the role as she's reminiscent of the Wicked Witch from the West in her loud voice and snarling attitude. By her side is the physically imposing baritone Bleacher (Tom Davis). The real standout among the villains is Paterson Joseph, playing Slugworth. As the chocolate cartel king, Joseph plays each scene as he chews up the scenery like a fine piece of chocolate.
The heart of the story revolves around orphans being abandoned and used with a message about classism. The orphan Willy gets to know is Noodle (Calah Lane), a girl forced to work laundry for a hotel that utilizes slave labor. Anyone who writes themselves to stay at their inn becomes subjected to intensive labor and imprisonment within the confines of the hotel. Wonka naively doesn't read the fine print and enters himself at the inn as one of their laborers. There, he meets Noodle (Calah Lane), a girl down on her luck who finds purpose through Willy Wonka's enthusiasm.
Wonka's goal is to sell chocolate. He's illiterate, making selling chocolate his purpose in life. Unfortunately for Wonka, it's forbidden to distribute chocolate in the town he arrives in. That doesn't stop Willy from selling anyway. Even if against the law, Willy Wonka is determined to work hard at his dream of being a chocolate maker. If it weren't for the Chocolate Cartel bringing in all the profits for themselves, Wonka could hand out his chocolate. The main conflict of the film is Wonka trying to be snuffed out of his dreams and fight for the poor. Willy Wonka always had a commentary about classism. The story of Charlie from the original film was about a boy who comes from poverty to the lush land of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory to inherit it from Wonka. Only a young person from an impoverished background, who is grateful, not self-absorbant, can run the factory.
In Wonka, we learn that Willy Wonka is a poor orphan with a deceased mother and distant father. To honor his mother, who made chocolate with him, Willy makes and sells what could be the best chocolate in the world. Willy Wonka aims to bring hope and joy to other people's hearts. While Wonka has its fair share of ugly CGI and an ordinary performance from its lead, there's enough magic to keep you engrossed and entertained from beginning to end of this magical journey to imagination land.
