Wonka

Proving that his work on the one two punch that was Paddington and then it's universally praised sequel was not per chance, British director Paul King has managed to bring the same amount of energy, charm, heart and smarts he delivered with his marmalade loving bear to this high profile Willy Wonka prequel that should become the crowd pleasing hit of this years festive/holiday period.

Utilising his comedy background and career making work on the cult UK TV series The Mighty Boosh (fans of which will be pleased to see a key role for Rich Fulcher here), King ensures that his musical infused adventure that follows Timothée Chalamet's young Willy Wonka during his first attempts to conquer the chocolate world with his magical inventions and colorful showmanship, is a film that constantly is on the move and one that ensures it's filled to the brim with wonder, whimsy and wackiness that should find it appealing to a wide ranging age-group and audience.

It's not as though the world was exactly crying out to find out more about the beloved character many of us fell in love with either in Roald Dahl's original book or the Gene Wilder starring classic film from 1971 but King and his screenwriting partner Simon Farnaby instantly make us engaged and interested in this tale that has a wide ranging reach and works in a number of facets without ever losing momentum.

Rarely pausing for breath between its colourful character interactions, enjoyable song and dance numbers and more poignant aspects that make Wonka more than just all sugar and no substance, King's enjoyable ride harbours a clear labour of love at its core that gels perfectly with its more old-school film-making vibe and delivery that once more acts as an example that Hollywood's incessant nature to try and be "hip" and boundary pushing isn't always needed to find a winning formula.

Within King's winning Wonka formula he has managed to create and gift a number of memorably fun performances from his talented cast and while Chalamet gives it his best shot in easily his most challenging performance yet, his role as Willy Wonka doesn't always seem ideally suited to his acting sensibilities, it's in the supporting cast that Wonka finds its comedic gold.

From Olivia Colman's yellow-toothed nasty Mrs. Scrubbit, Tom Davis's wild-haired Bleacher, Keegan-Michael Key's sweet-toothed police chief and Hugh Grant's (bizarrely controversial) scene-stealing Oompa-Loompa, Wonka's cast of newbies and industry vets alike all have a blast playing their parts here and Wonka's overall feeling and end result seems to be the product of a film that was a lot of fun to make and bring to life.

There may not be any groundbreaking new messages taking place here and I don't suspect Wonka will ever be regarded as the type of family friendly all-time classic as its original source material or first film iteration are seen as but it would take a hard-hearted and Scrubbit like viewer to not find enjoyment from such an entertaining and imaginative new take on one of the worlds most well-known properties.

Final Say -

Another resounding success for director Paul King, who has here further established his reputation as the leader of family friendly cinematic adventures, Wonka is a charming and enjoyable big screen ride that deserves to be this years most resounding holiday hit.

4 unsolved murders out of 5.

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

On paper, Wonka is a cynical cash grab of an idea but in the hands of the extremely talented duo of Paul King and Simon Farnaby it becomes another heartwarming story of a kind person who just wants to make the world a better place. Even if it feels its run time more than King and Faranby's previous work it still remains thoroughly entertaining and emotionally investing.

Timothée Chalamet lacks the darker edge with this interpretation of Willy Wonka and that really doesn't matter considering what the film is going for. His Wonka is innocent to a fault, morally pure with a high level of quirk that Chalamet is able to communicate in his enunciation and movement. It's a nice change of pace compared to his usual roles.

The supporting cast is full of comedians who take it in turns stealing scenes. Hugh Grant's Oompa Loompa is an uncanny highlight who takes a while to appear and is absolutely worth the wait. Paterson Joseph excels at playing a full on pantomime villain complimented by Matt Lucas and Matthew Baynton to make for a delightfully evil trio.

Paul King's direction brings the expected whimsy with a nice level of energy to the musical numbers. The songs by Neil Hannon are generally fine, suitably entertaining in the moment without staying power so it successfully goes back to Pure Imagination a few times, with Joby Talbot's score happily sprinkling it in throughout.

I loved the original, hated the remake, this one sits in the middle somewhere. It's definitely a mixed bag. I googled Timothée Chalamet to see how old he was because had he been in his early twenties, I would have given him a pass for a very uninspired performance. As it is, he is 28. Old enough, with enough films under his small belt, to be better than he is.

I got the feeling he watched more Depp than Wilder, unfortunately. You could see it in the smile. Wilder was crazy good and there is no expectation for anyone to equal him, it would still be nice to be more imaginative with the role.

The storyline was a mish-mash of unfocused stereotypes and had a lack of real artistic heart. Someone sat with the script and tried to come up with what they thought an audience would want rather than what these characters and storylines demand. The story skipped around like a ball in a pinball machine. We get that it's fantasy, but at least create a world that functions on the basis of a well thought out set of rules. There was no world building here...just a snap of the fingers.

The music was the most disappointing of all, especially compared to the original songs utilized. When you have great songs like Pure Imagination, you gotta be at least good enough to sit in the same room...these new songs weren't good enough to sit outside in the hallway.

With all that said, this movie was charming in it's own way. Better than the typical superhero repeats, that's for sure.

Listen, I liked this movie. It was good, I just wished it gave me more. Felt like there was some underutilizing of potential, so it felt s little hollow for me.

It didn't tug on my heart strings or emotions ever, but it made it chuckle and Timothee was great as Wonka. A lot of unecessary singing. I can fully get into a good musical if the songs are good and properly placed and spread out, but I can't stand it when they sing songs just to sing, when they could just... talk. Some of the songs the movie weren't really catchy or even good, and felt pointless.

Positives: great casting, funny, beautiful sets and costumes. Could watch it at home just to watch a cozy movie (if you're into musicals), but not worth seeing in the theaters like I did.

The beginning of the movie was promising, but then it became quite ridiculous and silly.

None of the songs in the movie were to my liking, with the exception of the opening song which was passable.

The acting was great, and Timothée Chalamet gave a very good performance.

I wouldn't say that I hated the movie, but it didn't do much for me either.

I think it would appeal to children more than adults.

I think the movie would have been better if more effort had been put into the screenplay and story.

I was so happy to see Charlotte Ritchie in the movie, even if it was just for a short time .