Wonka (2023)
2023
PG
117 Minutes
Willy Wonka – chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time – is proof that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to me...
User Review
-
WHAT I LIKED: 'Wonka,' is another musical about a guy with a dream. A great chocolate maker (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in London hoping to open his first shop, but much to his surprise, the city's "chocolate cartel," (Matt Lucas, Paterson Joseph and Mathew Baynton) are in kahoots with his hotelier (Olivia Colman) and the chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Kev) to stop him. With a rag-tag group of other people also imprisoned at his hotel, he of course manages to expose all the villains and open his shop, but not before various daring schemes and a whole lot of singing and dancing.
The production design is a fun, whimsical depiction of old-timey London with the occasional whiff of Paris and Oxford, and the performers all do a committed job with their comedic roles. In the end that quintessential character story makes for a perfectly serviceable family Musical.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: It's hardly some profound masterpiece, and Wonka never really seems like a proper Oliver Twist character when he's basically a magician dressed in fancy clothes who can pull anything out of his case when the plot demands it.
VERDICT: 'Wonka,' is a fine - if hardly profound - family musical about a guy trying to share his chocolate with the world.0 member like this review.
