I saw the new Wonka movie with my kids. We watched the original Gene Wilder one and my daughter really liked it. She wants to watch a Wonka movie as our new Christmas tradition. I’ve always watched It’s a Wonderful Life or Love Actually as my Christmas movies but, sure, Willy Wonka is more of a Christmas theme (and less intense in tone).
The new Wonka movie is a musical just like the other ones. The plot covers Wonka’s rise from a penniless nobody to the magnificent chocolate entrepreneur we see in the original Roald Dahl story. The story takes a few liberties with the original on how Wonka met the Oompa Loompas, but otherwise feels like a very Dahl-esque story. Fantastical elements are everywhere. In the opening musical number, Wonka finishes by taking off his hat and pulling out a mug and a hot kettle of cocoa to drink. There’s several songs where the actors fly through the air as part of the choreography. I really enjoyed the visuals throughout.
The actual songs of the movie were okay. I liked them at the time, but haven’t felt like listening to them afterwards. At the end of the movie Timothée Chalamet sings a version of “Pure Imagination” which is from the Gene Wilder movie. In the original Wonka sings when the children see the Chocolate Room for the first time. In Wonka the song occurs as Wonka is designing the Chocolate Room after becoming successful in a smaller operation.
Costumes and sets are great. The acting was quite nice. I think Chalamet did a particularly good job of portraying Wonka as an idiot savant. He conveys the wacky ideas of the movie with real passion. Of course you need giraffe milk to make a chocolate that leaves people feeling confident. How else would they feel ten feet tall? It was a treat getting to see the world with Wonka as the point-of-view character instead of Charlie as in the previous movies.
I’d recommend the movie to anyone with kids, anyone who is a fan of the original Gene Wilder production, or anyone who is a fan of Roald Dahl books. It really captures the spirit of Dahl’s work and can serve as a stand-in for new written material. I hope you can still get to see it while its still in theaters!
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