An eccentric magician dreaming of opening a chocolate factory provokes the jealousy of three corrupt confectioners.
Having traveled the seven seas for seven years, Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) returns to England in the hope of becoming a chocolatier in memory of his late mother (Sally Hawkins). Protected by Father Julius (Rowan Atkinson) and the police chief (Keegan-Michael Key), Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) and Prodnose (Matt Lucas), corrupt confectioners, will hinder him.
To add to his woes, the eccentric inventor and magician is taken prisoner in a laundry by the horrible Mrs. Scrubitt (Olivia Colman) and Bleacher (Tom Davis). Fortunately, he can count on the help of the orphan Noodle (Calah Lane) and four boarders held against their will.
Having found Willy Wonka in a Magic Land (1971), by Mel Stewart, too sweet and sentimental, although he had written the screenplay with David Seltzer, the writer Roald Dahl would perhaps not have appreciated Wonka, the charming prequel to Paul King . While Tim Burton’s film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), respected more the dark aspects of the novel, screenwriter John August even had the character of a dentist dad, that of the director of Paddington 1 and 2 displays his connection with Stuart’s film.
Written with Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2), who plays the zookeeper, Wonka revisits two of the most popular songs from the 1971 version, Pure Imagination and the Oompa-Loompas song, respectively performed by Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant. These gentlemen, however, are not as vocal as Calah Lane, who shines on For a Moment.
A cross between Oliver Twist and Mary Poppins, disarmingly candid, Chalamet’s Wonka is closer to the elegant and playful Wonka of Gene Wilder than to the disturbing and neurotic Wonka of Johnny Depp. Hair and makeup like the small actors of the first version, repeating some of their dance steps, the phlegmatic Grant turns out to be absolutely hilarious as a native of Loompaland.
If the new songs prove less memorable than those of the previous versions, the aerial choreographies and the enchanting settings infuse the right amount of magic and enchantment into the musical scenes. As for the colorful chocolate treats, they are simply a dream. Solidly based on a picaresque story with Dickensian, even Hugolian, accents, benefiting from a high-level cast, Wonka does not suffer from comparison with its predecessors thanks to the inventive and sumptuous staging of Paul King.
