So sweet it’ll leave you craving for chocolates.
In a prequel story focused on a young Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet), his dream of opening his own chocolate shop, and how he came to be the Willy Wonka we know from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Directed by Paul King (The Paddington films), the movie is filled with musical numbers and colorful visuals. It opens with a musical number from a bright-eyed Wonka, who has traveled by boat to a new city. He soon finds out that opening a chocolate shop in the glamorous Galeries Gourmet is more challenging than he expected. Even with very little money left, Wonka remained optimistic that he would fulfill his dream. That is until he meets Mrs. Scrubbit – a cunning laundromat owner who’s known for tricking unsuspecting travelers into working off their excessive bills.
Wonka’s optimism remains as he works out a plan with the other trapped travelers to sneak out of the laundromat to continue to make and sell his chocolates. Here’s the official synopsis for Wonka:
“Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, “Wonka” tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.:
Chalamet’s Performance as Young Willy Wonka
Chalamet’s natural charm came bursting through the screen in this movie. His performance as the bright-eyed and hopefully young Wonka is delightful and genuine, making it very easy for the audience to cheer him on through every obstacle. While the supporting cast of characters are great, Chalamet is the true standout in this film.
Hugh Grant as Lofty the Oompa Loompa
As the lone Oompa Loompa in the movie, Hugh Grant didn’t have too much screen time. However, he commands the audience’s full attention any time he comes on the screen, from the iconic dance movies to his hilarious banter with Wonka.
A Chocolate Shop of Pure Imagination
The movie has plenty of grand musical numbers filled with dancers and colorful sets. As we already saw from the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, everything inside Wonka’s shop is beyond imagination – chocolate river, geese that laid golden eggs, and more. In Wonka, we get a small sampling of Wonka’s confectionary skills and imagination come to life in a scene where he was able to afford to open a small shop. It was filled with colorful candies and chocolates, cotton candy clouds, and a giant (and edible) cherry blossom tree with a chocolate tree trunk.
The production design and details in this film are incredible, and setting Wonka’s colorful shop against the drab and colorless Scrubbit laundromat makes it stand out even more.
Watch our full review here:
