‘Wonka’ Review — Timothée Chalamet Presents a World of Pure Imagination

The Big Picture

• Timothée Chalamet shines as Willy Wonka, capturing the character’s charm and optimism with his buoyant performance.
• Director Paul King brings his signature cheeriness to the film, creating a candy-colored world that is a visual delight.
• While the film has too many storylines and characters, its spirit and optimism, along with Chalamet’s fantastic performance, make up for its weaknesses.

Wonka sounds like it should be a joke—the type of origin story for an iconic movie character that could easily have received a fake trailer on Saturday Night Live. Certainly, we don’t need to know where the famous chocolatier/child endangerment supporter found his love for chocolate, where he met the Oompa Loompas, or how he began his first business. But what we do need more of in the world are the films of Paul King. Who better to introduce the world to young Wonka than the man who turned Paddington 2 into a statement on prison reform? If there is anyone who could find the joy and magic in Wonka’s story, it’s King, and for the most part, he brings the wonder and warmth that he brought to the Paddington series of movies—even if it’s a bit more rough around the edges than that adorable series.

What Is ‘Wonka’ About?

Almost immediately, Timothée Chalamet makes the case for himself as an excellent Willy Wonka, singing on a boat with his buoyant optimism that makes him such a charming actor. When we meet Wonka, he’s on his way to make his fortune, heading to London to build his own chocolate shop. Wonka’s chocolate is transcendent and blends tasty treats with magic in a way that makes his competitors Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Fickelgruber (Matthew Baynton) concerned. While Wonka thought striking it rich would be easy, these three work with the chief of police (Keegan-Michael Key) to make sure he never sells chocolate in front of their stores again.

If that wasn’t enough, Wonka stays at a hotel—run by Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and her helper Bleacher (Tom Davis)—and doesn’t read the fine print, which leaves him in deep debt that he has to work off. Forced to toil away in the basement laundry (alongside characters played by Natasha Rothwell, Rich Fulcher, Rakhee Thakrar, and Jim Carter), he meets Noodle (Calah Lane), a child who is also indebted to Mrs. Scrubbit. Together, Wonka and Noodle make a plan to get out of the basement laundry and get him back on the streets selling his delicious chocolate.

‘Wonka’ Forges Its Own Path

Compared to 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and especially Tim Burton’s 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, King has a lighter touch when exploring Roald Dahl’s creation. King embraces the cheeriness of the young entrepreneur attempting to make his way in the world, bringing the brightness that made his Paddington films such a delight. Cinematographer Jeong Jeong-hun—most notable for his work with, of all people Park Chan-wook on films like Oldboy and The Handmaiden—makes this world a candy-colored pleasure, as if we’re already in Wonka’s factory where everything is edible. Especially as we see Wonka’s business start to take shape, King and Jeong-hun make us understand simply through the visuals just how easy it would be to fall in love with Wonka’s brand of treats.

Wonka’s screenplay, also by Paddington 2 writers King and Simon Farnaby, doesn’t feel like it’s checking off a list of things that we need to see from this character. For the most part, these explanations as to how he would become the Wonka we know from the Gene Wilder version flow into the story naturally, without sticking out like a sore thumb. For example, we learn about why Wonka wants to make chocolate from a lovely flashback (that feels very Paddington-esque) about Wonka and his mother (Sally Hawkins) and the care she took in giving her son chocolate. These moments flow in and out of King and Farnaby’s story as if they’re only included when they make narrative sense, rather than trying to stuff them in.

Timothée Chalamet Is a Joy as Willy Wonka

Understandably, the Wonka of Wonka isn’t like the previous versions we’ve seen before. King and Farnaby play up this Wonka as a young dreamer who won’t let the world get him down and always sees the chocolate cup as half full. Helping bring that to life is an endearing performance by Chalamet, who gets to be as over-the-top and theatrical as he wants to be. Again, this is forging its own path, as opposed to checking down the list of things we know about Wonka, and Chalamet is smart to not attempt to mimic Wilder (or, god forbid, Johnny Depp) in any real way. Chalamet makes this character his own and has a ball with the quick-talking magician who is still full of optimism.

In fact, the entire cast is enjoying themselves in this wild world of King and Dahl’s creation. This is especially true of Colman, who is masterful at this type of villainous role, as she performs as if she’s trying to be as hated as possible in every scene. Similarly, Hugh Grant is delightful as Lofty, an Oompa-Loompa who has tracked down Wonka to London. While Grant doesn’t have too many scenes, his deadpan sense of humor and his embracing of this goofy role make him a standout.

Adding to the cheerful atmosphere of Wonka is a pleasing soundtrack of new songs from Neil Hannon and a score by Joby Talbot. Music was key to bringing Willy Wonka to the screen in 1971, and while the songs here aren’t quite to the level of that original film, they are toe-tapping fun in the theater and Hannon does a solid job with the musical numbers throughout. Though Wonka isn’t attempting to hit all the buttons of that first film, one of the best moments of this one finds the perfect way to call back to one of that vision’s best songs, making for a great capper to a wonderful ending.

But There’s Too Much Going on in ‘Wonka’

The biggest problem with Wonka, however, is that there’s a bit too much going on. From the hotel business to the Chocolate Cartel—not to mention Rowan Atkinson’s Father Julius, who presides over a group of 500 chocoholic monks—there are so many storylines and too many characters that some of these can’t help but end up getting spread a bit too thin. While everyone does get their moment in the sun, it’s a surprisingly busy story with too many threads. One such thread that probably could’ve been cut altogether is unfortunately Key’s chief of police, who is often little more than an ongoing fat-shaming joke that doesn’t stop. Key himself is decent as always, but it’s a disappointing storyline that could’ve been altered away from that odd choice.

Wonka is a bit shaggy, with too many moving parts, but its spirit and its optimism—and a fantastic performance by Chalamet—make up for the film’s weaknesses. From the script to the cast, Wonka is a film that feels like it was made with heart—much like Wonka’s chocolate. Keep in mind that the first Paddington also faced similar problems, which then led to the superior masterpiece that was Paddington 2. Who knows if there’s more Wonka in the works, but considering the world of pure imagination that King shows us here, hopefully, there’s more chocolate to be saved for later.

Rating: B

Wonka comes to theaters in the U.S. on December 15. Click below for showtimes.

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