GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★★
Rated: PG
Directed by: Paul King
Screenplay Written by: Paul King, Simon Famaby
Story by: Paul King
Based on the Character Created by: Roald Dahl
Produced by: David Heyman, Alexandra Derbyshire, Luke Kelly
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant.
‘A place to escape to.’
The origin story of Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) is delightful with attention to detail and a wry humour that is the trademark of director and writer, Paul King (creator of Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017)).
The story of Wonka follows Willy as he disembarks from aboard a ship to land in England to create and sell his amazing chocolates, a skill he learned to love from his mother (Sally Hawkins).
Whistling is heard before the singing begins as Willy stands atop the ship’s mast, ready to embrace the world while brandishing his hat full of dreams.
I freely admit I’m not a fan of musicals, so I was bracing myself.
But I liked this one.
I was grinning all the way through this movie; the particular brand of Paul King humour had me laughing out loud, the timing and facial expressions and ‘surprisingly good form,’ of these unique characters added to the delight of this movie as Willy makes chocolates that don’t just taste good but have the added bonus of flight or the feeling of a night out or creating a choreographed day like being in a cabaret.
But for Willy to sell his chocolates, he must first get past the establishment of the Chocolate Cartel: Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) honest to the point of being obnoxious (and then incredibly funny), and Fickelgruber (Matthew Baynton) who can’t say, ‘poor’ without becoming nauseous.
The cartel manages to keep their position as the top purveyors in town by paying off officials with chocolate, including the Chief-of-Police (Keegan-Michael Key) who’s girth continues to expand the more bribes he consumes.
Willy also manages to find himself trapped working in a washhouse, run by, Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman), after signing a contract without reading the fine print.
Trapped but not down, Willy meets his fellow inmates, Noodle (Calah Lane), an orphan and cynic with a mysterious past who tells Willy that his belief in the kindness of strangers landed him in a room in the staff quarters (where the sink is also the toilet).
Then there’s ex-account Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), the never-speaks Miss Bon Bon (Freya Parker), Piper Benz who knows the underground (Natasha Rothwell), and aspiring comedian, Larry Chucklesworth (Rich Fulcher) who can speak like he’s underwater.
A rag-tag team, a kid wanting to make chocolate and singing does not sound like my cup of tea, but there’s an irresistible charm here, think Rowan Atkinson as a chocoholic priest. Then High Grant as an Oompa-Loompa, described by Willy as a small orange man who’s green hair shines in the moonlight.
But what really got me giggling was the villainous Bleacher (Tom Davis) in his dungarees made to show a bit of thigh.
The aspiring comedian character should not have been funny with his try-hard jokes, but the detail and facial expressions like a small poke of the tongue just before cutting to the next scene added that surprising bit extra and that’s what made this movie such a delight to watch.
Instead of a tired re-wash, Wonka is a refresh of Roald Dahl’s classic character: it’s magical and all very sweet (excuse the pun), and gets away with that sweetness because it’s just so funny.
