Timothée Chalamet (left) and Hugh Grant in “Wonka”
Courtesy of the Everett Collection
In his Paddington films, Paul Smith combined animation and live action to create delightful adventures for all ages, conveying a message of community and acceptance with lively wit and disarming sweetness, not to mention Ben Whishaw’s impeccable voice work, which gave the gentle bear protagonist a real heart . Depending on your appetite for sugary excess, you might find the director’s Wonka to be something similar. Or you may find that the qualities that characterized his earlier hits are suppressed here by an overused moodiness, an aggressive charm that wears you down rather than lifting you up.
Thankfully, we’re a long way from the lurid nightmare of Tim Burton’s 2005 film adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Timothée Chalamet as young Willy Wonka is nothing like Johnny Depp’s chilling take on the role. But Chalamet has two attitudes here: either he’s beaming with almost manic exuberance, as if he wants us all to have fun, or he’s longing for the late mother (Sally Hawkins), who promised to be by his side when he took his dreams realized. Transitions between these dual modes are often characterized by lively singing and dancing.
Wonka
The conclusion: bad for your teeth.
Release date: Friday, December 15th
Pour: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Natasha Rothwell, Rich Fulcher, Rakhee Thakrar, Tom Davis, Kobna Holdbrook -Blacksmith
director:Paul King
Screenwriters: Simon Farnaby, Paul King, based on characters by Roald Dahl
Rated PG, 1 hour 56 minutes
At the end of the film, Chalamet’s young Wonka sings the beautiful song “Pure Imagination,” popularized by Gene Wilder in 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” as he conjures the magical production facility out of thin air. But this CG depiction only highlights the disgusting artificiality of the film. It’s an empty chocolate box.
People who saw the Wilder version as children are fanatical in their love of it, and perhaps they’ll happily get caught up in this messily plotted prequel written by Paddington 2 co-writer Simon Farnaby and King. But for this reviewer, the lovely, candy-colored Old World Europe created here, while impressive in terms of design detail, has all the appeal of those unwatchable Fantastic Beasts films. The film’s atmosphere is in the general Mary Poppin vein, but the lightness that made King’s previous two features so enjoyable is in short supply.
Farnaby and King’s script moves away from Dahl’s original story and imagines what came before, while remaining more or less true to the author’s thematic playground of pure-hearted children triumphing over evil adults.
The child, in this case, is a young man who longs to pass on the unique chocolate-making skills he learned from his mother, but is threatened at every turn by a corrupt cartel of well-heeled chocolatiers, Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) is prevented from doing so. and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton), who welcome no competition for their high-priced wares for sale at the swanky Galeries Gourmet. Beyond the threat of Wonka’s exceptionally delicious chocolates, there is also the fact that he wants to make them an egalitarian treat that is affordable to everyone. Fickelgruber embodies the cartel’s attitude toward this goal by gagging every time he hears the word “poor.” Which might have been funny if the evil trio hadn’t been pushed to such extreme extremes.
Grotesque villains were standard fare for Dahl, but because three ruthless capitalists who will stop at nothing to protect their monopoly from a talented upstart apparently wasn’t enough, the script throws in a bawdy innkeeper, Mrs. Scrubit (Olivia Colman). A mouthful of yellowed teeth straight from The Simpsons’ Big Book of British Smiles. Be prepared to see grinning close-ups of these misshapen walkers too many times to count.
Along with her sleazy henchman Bleacher (Tom Davis), Mrs. Scrubit runs a scam by duping cash-strapped guests into years of unpaid labor at her laundry business. In this workhouse, Wonka meets the oppressed, who becomes an accomplice in his plan to outsmart the cartel and open his own shop in the Galeries Gourmet. They include former accountant Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), telephone operator Lottie Bell (Rakhee Thakrar), plumber Piper Benz (Natasha Rothwell) and wannabe comedian Larry Chucklesworth (Rich Fulcher).
Willy’s most important ally, however, is Noodle (Calah Lane), a smart, resourceful girl who fell down the laundry chute as a toddler and was “taken in” by Mrs. Scrubit. This was supposedly an act of kindness, but in reality Noodle was forced into a life of indentured servitude. Young newcomer Lane probably gives the most appealing performance in the film, partly because she’s practically the only one who doesn’t spend the entire time on grueling heists. I swear I physically recoiled every time the arrogant cartel showed up again.
Also in the scene is Keegan-Michael Key in the role of the police chief who lets himself be replaced by the cartel and accepts chocolate as payment, which results in his girth increasing in a tiresome running fat joke. Rowan Atkinson is a more welcome presence, although he does his usual trick as a similarly corrupt priest. And Hugh Grant makes, well, Hugh Grant, albeit in miniaturized form, with orange skin and green hair, as the dandy Oompa Loompa, who steals Willy’s chocolates until he can be persuaded to help out.
In addition to “Pure Imagination,” another Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley song from the 1971 film, “Oompa Loompa,” resurfaces via Grant, with a reprise over the end credits that wraps up loose storylines. The serviceable new numbers come from The Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon, although there’s little of the sophisticated lyrical wit of the Northern Irish orchestral pop band’s best work. The catchiest of the new songs is “A World of Your Own,” beautifully sung by Chalamet.
King’s claim that his star has a voice like Bing Crosby’s is exaggerated, but although Chalamet’s singing is on the thin side, it’s melodic enough. He fares better in the dance duties, executing choreographer Christopher Gattelli’s moves — from energetic taps and softshoes to sportier turns — with nimble flair and a joy that the actor’s fans will likely find infectious.
I just wish I found the performance more infectious overall. But so much wide-eyed optimism becomes tiring, and the wistful memories of Willy’s mother, while beautifully visualized in flipbook style, are more sentimental than touching.
While it’s plausible that young Wonka didn’t develop the arrogant, authoritarian side of the character that Dahl envisioned, here Willy feels neutered and stripped of any edge that might have made him interesting. His magical ability to make chocolates levitate or transform a cavernous, run-down storefront into a cornucopia of wonders just seems like the kind of standard CG doodles you see in TV commercials. The young audience may be enchanted, but I’m sorry to say that I found the whole confection sickeningly sweet and hopelessly cheesy.
Many talented actors are either misused or wasted. First and foremost is Colman, who plays a shrill, unscrupulous bitch with misplaced snobbery that comes through in a silly subplot that makes her think Bleacher is a Bavarian aristocracy. Key is allowed to drown in latex, but not much else. And Rothwell has almost nothing to do, continuing the conundrum that films don’t know how to use an actor who excels so brilliantly in TV roles in “Insecure” and “The White Lotus.”
King is in his element when it comes to capricious comedy, so the chaotic plot is buoyant as Wonka and his workhouse cronies use an underground network of storm drains to escape the laundry and elude their increasingly murderous pursuers. And production designer Mark Everson and the effects team dreamed up a series of inventive Rube Goldberg devices from Wonka’s ingenious mind, including an elaborate trap to catch Grant’s Oompa Loompa during his nightly chocolate theft. I particularly liked Willy’s suitcase, which, when opened, revealed a well-stocked cupboard with exotic ingredients and cooking utensils.
Lindy Hemming’s eccentric costumes are full of color, as are the sets; Chung-hoon Chung’s cinematography is appropriately vivid; and the playful score by former Divine Comedy arranger and keyboardist Joby Talbert fits seamlessly into the songs. Initial reactions to the film on social media, including from respected critics, have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. But the very elaborate chocolate packaging left my sweet tooth undisturbed.