FILM REVIEW Words by Harry Moore WONKA The early years of Roald Dahl’s whimsical chocolatier are brought to life in this sweet musical from “Paddington” director Paul King. Timothée Chalamet stars as Willy Wonka, a wide-eyed young man with a love for chocolate and a dream to share his delicious creations with the world. He, unfortunately, finds out that the sweets industry is run by a cabal of greedy and corrupt businessmen (played by Patterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Matthew Baynton) known as the Chocolate Cartel who bribe the chief of police (Keegan Michael Key) to prevent any upcoming chocolatiers from growing their business. Willy soon finds himself in servitude to launderette owner Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and quickly forms a bond with the other misfortunate people forced to work there. Willy and his new friends devise a scheme to escape Mrs. Scrubbit and earn enough money to open their own chocolate shop. King has earned a name for himself in spinning charming, family-friendly fantasies thanks to his widely acclaimed Paddington Bear movies, and his streak continues with “Wonka,” a wonderfully reimagined interpretation of the famous character, memorably played once by Gene Wilder and less memorably by Johnny Depp. Chalamet manages to break away from any preconceived notions of the character and presents his own, friendlier and markedly less traumatizing version of Willy Wonka. The film marks an impressive career milestone for Chalamet, as the young movie star continues to show his range with this impressive musical turn, revealing a lighter side that have been absent in some of his other projects. He also demonstrates that he is capable of leading a tent pole film without having a supporting cast of A-listers assisting him. That isn’t to diminish the work’s ensemble of quality character actors, all of whom understand the parts they were given and feel as if they had stepped directly out of one of Dahl’s pages. The musical numbers themselves are pretty hitand-miss but enjoy a better average than the majority of other modern movie musicals, and they are all elaborately staged, choreographed, and shot by King and his team. The costumes and production designs are all delectably rendered and serve toward the storybook brought to life vision that is at the center of the film. With “Wonka,” King, Chalamet and the rest of the cast and crew have crafted a charming fantasy that can delight the whole family.
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