Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favorite films growing up as a kid. It had a magical yet wonderful feel to it and Gene Wilder was a darkly fun Willie Wonka. Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory not so much. It was a darker take on the boisterous candy manufacturer. Johnny Depp has played the character a bit darker and less joyous. Timothy Chalamet on the other hand I’d the exact opposite in Wonka. The latest edition of the Roald Dahl Classic.

Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in a new town with a new style of chocolate that he hopes will endear himself with the locals. Unfortunately for him, he is trapped by a couple of scammers, Mrs Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and Bleacher (Tom Davis)  who run a boarding house and laundry filled with a handful of prisoners.  Who was also trapped like Willie? He enlists the help of that group of prisoners to try and show the townspeople he is a Chocolate genius and the Chocolate cartel, Slugworth (Peterson Joseph) Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton), that runs the town are nothing but a bunch of criminals.

Right from the beginning of this movie, Paul King, the director behind the Paddington films, creates a joyous and wonderful atmosphere.  Chalamet and company are singing songs and dancing in the street or wash house. Where the story suits the singing and dancing. Songs such as “Scrub Scrub”, “You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This”  “The Oompa Loompa Song” and finally “Pure Imagination” The songs and numbers involved were all fantastically done and when Pure Imagination finally played it gave me chills. 

Paul King cast the film with some faces you know and love from other films of his like Hugh Grant as the clever and talented Lofty the Oompa Loompa played by Hugh Grant. Keegan Michael Key as the crooked town sheriff who gets fat off of all the chocolate he is bribed with by the Chocolate Cartel, Rowan Atkinson famous for playing Mr. Bean plays a Priest who is in league with the Cartel as well and  Calah Lane plays Noodle Willie’s trusty sidekick throughout this wonderful adventure. This cast is fantastic. They equal the love I got while watching this wonderful film.

The technical aspects of this movie are second to none. There is amazing choreography to go along with the songs. The production design is like no other that I’ve seen this year and the costumes and makeup are all first-rate. Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow Pictures spared no penny with this production. All of this matches the incredible story based on Dahl’s book and the direction by King. The vision behind this story was like nothing I’ve seen all year. WB has a hit on its hands with this and The Color Purple this holiday season. People will be flocking to see these films.

One of the things about the Wonka Franchise is that it is a dreamlike state that the viewers of the films are entered into while watching the films. The various delectable morals of candy and creativity that this man, or in this case, young man, creates are second to none. He makes those watching the movies want what he is creating as much as the people within the film. There is just so much to see and look at in this movie it’s hard to see everything that is going on. That’s a good thing. King even throws in some Easter eggs for fans of the original 1971 film and that is not edible like most of the candy in the film.

Wonka is a joyous and delightful movie with a wonderful and magical spirit to it like its protagonist. King puts the viewers at ease from the beginning with the catchy songs and fancy choreography. The cast is all fantastic but Timothee Chalamet is perfectly cast as this chocolatier and candy manufacturer.  This movie has a heart for days and technical aspects to match. The creativity that went into this film is unmatched by any movie all year. This is going to be a huge hit this holiday season. It brought me right back into my childhood as a kid again. I loved every minute of this movie.

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen