Wonka

No one was asking for this movie. Sure, once still and teasers got released, people were excited at the prospect of Chalamet donning the iconic purple coat and top hat. But conceptually, I can’t imagine audiences were clamoring to know where he came from. You could argue part of the charm and intrigue surrounding the character, especially in the 1971 film, is the lack of information we have about him. He’s a secretive chocolate magnate with a morbid sense of humor and a very severe overall personality. Seeing where he comes from diminishes the mystique somewhat.

Luckily, this movie isn’t too concerned with explaining how he got so good at making chocolate, or where his unique mannerisms came from. Although it does take pains to show us they were always a part of him, even if their single uses come across as a cynical reference to another, better movie. And it does dive into the origin of the Oompa-Loompas for some reason. So there’s a strange grab bag of elements from the previous movies, as they want to chart their own path without letting go of the past.

Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in a European city renowned for Galeries Gourmet, a few chocolate shops in a square run by the Chocolate Cartel: Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton). Wonka aspires to set up in the empty corner, using the fruits of his mother’s instruction and his own world travels (and a lotta bit of magic) to treat the people to something they’ve never before experienced. Before he can get started, though, he’s tricked into becoming an indentured servant to Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and Bleacher (Tom Davis). With the help of others in the same position, most notably Noodle (Calah Lane), he begins regularly sneaking out during the day to spread his chocolate throughout the city. All the while trying to avoid the Chief-of-Police (Keegan-Michael Key), who’s been hired by the Chocolate Cartel to make his life miserable.

Writing it out like that, it seems more convoluted than it actually feels. The characters are introduced quickly, and in groups, so each of those threads feels pretty straightforward. It’s aided by each character’s stark uniqueness from being an over the top cartoon of a person, much as you should expect from a Roald Dahl story (although this is an original story based on his character). As such, they’re not deep, complicated characters you need to get to know. Even our main characters, who we’re meant to focus on, are somewhat shallow. This isn’t a character piece: it’s an origin story for a supporting character, so that’s not a big problem.

Further, this is a musical, so everything is kept light and breezy to allow dropping into song at any moment, even as you see them coming a mile away. None of the songs are particularly notable. Everyone’s got a good singing voice, it’s just that the choreography and music and lyrics are all fairly uninspired. They all run together in my mind, despite having just seen it. We also get two Oompa-Loompa ditties, which use a modern arrangement of the classic music over decidedly non-moralistic lyrics, which add little to the proceedings but a strange(r) tone.

All of which points to the biggest issue here. This movie is just very safe and predictable and plain. Sure, its central conflict of poor upstart battling against the evil rich shop owners and an opportunistic innkeeper slots into the prevailing mentality of the age, but it lacks any particularly sharp barbs. The actual plot points are pretty rote, although competently done. There’s a key reveal which the movie treats as a surprise, despite having telegraphed it very clearly earlier on. And all of this swirls around characters we have a hard time caring too much about due to not knowing much of their backstory. The most invested we get is with Noodle, which proves the point, as she’s the person we know the most about. But even then, she has a hard time rising above the crowded screen.

What this movie has most going for it is style. There’s this incredibly odd tone to the proceedings. The world feels almost like a take on Oz that’s more muted. Wonka is a magician (although the movie can’t decide if he’s a wizard or illusionist), and that extends to things like a bottomless hat and flying during musical numbers and a chocolate factory that fits inside his suitcase, holding ingredients like storm clouds and sunshine. The dialog is all over the place, especially when coming from Wonka himself. They try to capture the strangeness of the character’s speech, sometimes hitting it but often whiffing by either not going far enough or going too far. This is further highlighted by the many references to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, as those lines feel out of place and forced, which is proven by their popping up exactly once. Still, even when a pale imitation, Chalamet’s dedication to the lines and enthusiasm makes it somewhat…fun?

It crosses the line to eye-rolling a bit with how much it becomes self-aware. The early moment of us seeing Wonka dance in a big musical number, then pulling back to the Chief-of-Police seeing him flail about alone in the middle of a crowd is great. But we regularly get such moments which acknowledge they’re characters in a movie/musical, maybe once every ten minutes or so. It dilutes the entertainment value and cleverness, given that this movie only wants to use them for quick, post-modern jokes.

No one should go into Wonka expecting some deep plumbing of Willy Wonka’s soul. Even I cannot imagine who in the hell would want that, and I say that as a huge fan of dark dramas. But I do wish there was something more…substantial here. The movie does have a few things to say, about the underdog vs. the rich and following your dreams, but it approaches them in a recognizable and boring way, adding little new to the conversation. Still, it does so competently and insanely, and manages to have fun across much of its runtime, which is not a praise I often give. I’d be lying if I said their humor didn’t get me a few times, even if it missed more often than it hit.

Even as it’s far from my favorite film of the year, it’s nowhere near the worst. I somehow walked out of Wonka without thinking I wasted my time. So I’m calling that a victory.