Wonka

A special treat tonight everyone: I just finished watching “Wonka,” which came out in December 2023, on Max while exercising. Since everyone knows the original film is one of my all-time favorites, I think it would be best to let everyone know what I thought of this latest film.

Ernesto Diezmartínez started his review by noting, “Since the great Hollywood studios immersed in the swamp of intellectual property, that is, the endless production of sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots and films based on comics and youth and children's best sellers, the largest and most influential film industry of the orbe has punished us with a series of commercial products as interchangeable as disposable. Some examples: Marvel's stories can spread from cinema to television and vice versa, we see without blinking the continuous replacement of actors who play any superhero (be Batman or The Spider Man) and we run into the small screen or the big screen with the origins of any more or less canonical saga, whether it's Star Wars, Harry Potter or The Hunger Games. The result of this more than creative business bet is that the great Hollywood productions have been stuck in frank puerility for two decades, but in the intranscendence. Or, to put it in the measured words of Alejandro González Iñárritu, in the open and frank cultural genocidal.”

Diezmartínez continued, “Of course, within this ill-styled Disney model - that is, in this type of production and exhibition centered on intellectual property - there are exceptions to the rule: tapes that, even coming from this same iterative impulse, manage to rescue with dignity well-known stories (Batman: the knight of the night, Nolan, 2008), turn a shameless commercial product into a contradictory topic of cultural conversation (Barbie, Gerwig, 2023) and, now, with Wonka's recent premiere Wonka(United Kingdom - U.S. Canada, 2023), successfully rethink the origin of a certain classical film/literary character from another perspective and even from another genre, because we are faced with a musical film clearly anchored in the Hollywood tradition of My Beautiful Lady (Cukor, 1961) and, above all, Mary Poppins (Stevenson, 1964), because Neil Hannon's songs open directly from his tones and even some of his melodies.”

“Wonka” is a prequel to a story that has been told in two film versions, the classic 1971, directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder in the role of Willy Wonka, and Tim Burton’s 2005 remake with Johnny Depp playing the titular character. Both, as you know, are based on Roald Dahl’s original novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a classic children’s book that, as a good serious story (not serious), manages to combine the creation of a delightful place consisting of magic and fantasy – the chocolate factory of the oddball Willy Wonka with an exemplary story where the main child – the Charlie of the title – must learn what he should accept and which cons he should avoid, facing some challenges that, as Diezmartínez describes, “in the best style of the Welsh writer,” do not lack either fun or cruelty.

The argument for “Wonka,” written by director Paul King, raises the arrival in London of a young Willy Wonka, played by Timothée Chalamet, who arrives in the big city with the dream of opening a chocolate shop. Although he shows his unique talent by giving locals a magical and flying chocolate, the imagined and excited Wonka ends up as a slave to a landlady, Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) who forces him to work day and night washing sheets with another group of prisoners like him. Unfortunately, Wonka has more trouble, as the evil chocolate cartel led by the crooked Slugworth, played by Paterson Joseph, has already tasted his magical chocolate, so he won’t allow that competition to have the smallest chance to open his shop. Meanwhile, Wonka ends up befriending the cheerful orphan Noodle (Calah Lane), who dreams of escaping Mrs. Scrubbit, while the unfortunate young chocolatier, always positive, finds out a strange and small individual of orange skin and green hair (Hugh Grant as the best one here) has been stealing his chocolates at night. With the help of the other prisoners (Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Rich Fulcher, and Rakhee Thakrar), Wonka manages to escape Mrs. Scrubbit’s workshop to start making chocolates made from giraffe milk but Slugworth, his colleagues (Matt Lucas and Matthew Baynton), and the chocolate-addict police chief (Keegan-Michael Key) destroy his plans.

Diezmartínez mentioned, “Following the same path in his irresistible diptych about the charming Peruvian bear Paddington (2014 and 2017), King introduces us to a young Willy Wonka who lacks the dark features of his literary and cinematic incarnations. That is, Wonka captures the magic of the Roald Dahl universe but not its darkness, although this is more a characteristic than a defect. The infidelity of the original Willy Wonka has to do with the kind of stories that interest King: that of noble and good immigrants, faced with pettiness and greed. That barely grown-up child who is Chalamet's Willy Wonka may doubt at some point his dreams, but it is obvious that any hesitation is temporary, because for Paul King generosity and empathy have no choice but to succeed.”

Diezmartínez continued, “In the form, Wonka is a typical musical of our century, that is, more musical-opereta than musical-ballet. As Bob Fosse understood in his time, King knows very well that his star doesn't sing badly the rancheras, but it's clearly not made for the dance seriously, that is, it's not Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly (although, who is?). So, if Chamalet doesn't dance much, as was the case with Shirley MacLaine or Liza Minelli in Fosse's cinema, then let him dance the frame, let the rhythm mark the cuts between taking and taking. In this way, Mark Everson's montage gets some musical numbers - especially "Scrub scrub" and the second performance of "You've never had a chocolate like this" work not as mere illustrations of the sticky melodies, but as genuine and proud cinematic pieces.” The image is the one that dances in front of us and our feet, from our seats, join them. That is a good thing.

I found myself thoroughly enjoying this film. If you have Max and have liked the story of Willy Wonka, then see this movie. This one should not be missed; I promise you that. You will find yourself loving this movie and might be going out to get chocolate, but I wouldn’t recommend that.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Check in this Friday for the continuation of “Liam Neeson Month.”