Wonka Review - Willy Wonka's Musical Chocolate Melody Is Delicious

Wonka Review: So you must have read Roal Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964); you must have seen Gene Wilder's blockbuster Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and then Tom Burton-Johnny Depp's mega hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), so now it's time for Timothée Chalamet's origin story of Willy Wonka with Wonka (2023). It's been almost seven decades, and the tale hasn't lost a bit of its magic. It's so enchanting, joyful, and colourful that all you need to do is handle it with your good skills. That's it. You have success in your hands because the source material is just too good. Comedy lover Paul King gets it right. Paul understood the assignment well. Wonka is an exhilarant, amusing, extremely engaging, musically vibrant, and full of chocolate entertainer that stays true to its origin and gives it a nice modern touch as well.Wonka is like a prequel to what you have seen in Wilder and Depp's movies. There you have a chocolate factory, and here the story takes you to the backstory before the factory was built. Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) is a youngster with the talent to make incredible chocolates. He isn't settled yet, though. Rather, he hasn't started his career. He keeps wandering the streets and halls and showcasing his talent for making chocolate that can instantly win people's tongues and stomachs. Since he is selling chocolates at cheap rates that even "poor" people can afford, the competitors sense the danger. They try their best to keep him out of the business in whatever way possible, and most of the time they succeed. Amidst his ambition of becoming a great chocolate maker, Wonka is scammed by a small hotel owner and is made her servant for years to come. With the help of Noodle/Nicole (Calah Lane) and other imprisoners, Wonka must find a way out and also set his business against the corrupt chocolate businessmen.First of all, Paul King has written a king-size entertainer for all age groups. The humour is organic, the gags are real, and the magical touch of Wonka's fantasy world makes this one very interesting and engaging. The musical numbers are also well written, as the lyrics have meaning to keep the mood going. Wonka's origin story is not old or outdated; rather, it's completely unknown for many, and that's why there are so many pleasant surprises in the movie. In the end, we see Wonka building the factory, which we all know, and you can connect dots very well there. We are short on good musical comedies nowadays, and thanks to Paul King for writing one that lives up to expectations. We had children, young males and females, and adults in our special show, and the comical segment had us all in splits at the time. I think that's just dandy. I was craving; I was drooling for chocolates by the end, and I wish I could enter the screen just like Mia Farrow did it in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and devour the marshmallow and all the flavours. It's so freaking tasty.Timothée Chalamet is fantastic as Wonka. I wouldn't dare compare this young lad with legends like Johnny Depp and Gene Wilder, but yes, he is our Willy Wonka, alright. If those generations remember Wilder and Depp at that time, then let this social media generation remember Chalamet. Calah Lane is a sweet child with some adorable scenes, and she looks so cute in all of them. Paterson Joseph is not the deadly, cruel, but funnily cruel villain here that one would expect in a chocolate-comedy flick like this. There is something about his character that we miss in so many other musical comedies. Matt Lucas and Matthew Baynton (that yuk "poor" joke was so rich) support him well. Keegan-Michael Key's transformation had the audience on a roll by the end. Our favourite Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson, is a desperate chocoholic, but who must have thought about giving his character the reference of a priest? I mean, it's so hilarious to know. The first frame of his had the audience hooting, and we all really wanted him to have more screen space. Jim Carter, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Sally Hawkins, Natasha Rothwell, Rakhee Thakrar, Rich Fulcher, and others were fine in their supporting roles.Joby Talbot's songs have made Wonka extra delicious, and one can even go on tapping their feet in the cinema hall without even realising when that process begins, automatically. I was tapping my feet, and I didn't even realise it. Mark Everson's editing has literally no flaws. The only scene that looked slow and dated was when Noodle finds her mother, and then you have to think again to know how important that scene was for the film. Chung-hoon Chung's camera gives you some yummy frames of chocolate and whatnot. Roald Dahl's classic character needed a modern restoration on celluloid, and Paul King has given us that. Action, music, comedy, a little bit of a thrill, and an overflow of chocolates—that's what Paul serves you on the table in no time. Scrumptious is the word! "You've never tasted chocolate like this," says Wonka in one of the songs, and I can assure you that he really meant it. This chocoholic musical melody deserves to be swallowed with tasty rashes on your tongue. There is no need to go to any chocolate shop; just visit the nearest cinema hall.