Wonderful Wonka

Timothée Chalamet charms with whimsy: he sings, he dances! Yet there is just enough Dahl-ish bite and scare to make it true to the original material, and a decent plot. Together with these elements, it’s also a proper musical with splendid full-cast dance numbers. As well as containing a host of National Treasures — see if you can spot them all!

Paterson Joseph terrifically chews the scenery as one of three villainous chocolatiers, Slugworth. Together with Matt Lucas (Prodnose) and Matthew Baynton (Fickelgruber), they remind me of the three horrible farmers from Fantastic Mr Fox. They are definitely a trio of evil — but they also have a song and dance number, and a very helpful secretary. Devious and duplicitous to the last, they are determined to stop young Wonka making chocolate in their town, staunchly defending their Chocolate Cartel monopoly.

Refreshingly there aren’t any adult jokes a la Shrek, just whimsy and wonder and lots of magic. It feels very much like the recent Mary Poppins with a twist of Dahl. Olivia Colman is equally scenery chewing, channeling 110% Mrs Lovett as a horrible and snobbish laundry owner/hotel proprietor Mrs Scrubitt, who is devious with the copious small print in contracts. Aided and abetted by the vile and wall-like Bleacher (Tom Davis), she tyrannises her enslaved staff, and is cunningly tricked into haughty romance. As a pair, Scrubitt and Bleacher provide a lot of ridiculous comic relief and boo-hiss moments.

Shining like stars are Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Officer Affable, honest, upright and kind, and Calah Lane as the oppressed orphan Noodle at the laundry. Calah Lane is very much Chalamet’s equal and they are engaging together, working all the energy in the room — and then some. Officer Affable is on the case — mostly to stop Wonka, but he also has to deal with a chocolate-addicted and Cartel-bribed boss. Keegan-Michael Key as the Chief of Police plays what could have been a difficult role really well, even making us feel sorry for him as he grows larger and larger with the size of his confectionary bribes. The offering of the bribes becomes a running joke.

Yes they also go there — there is death by chocolate!

Best of all, Rowan Atkinson is a chocolate addicted comedy cleric, Father Julius. There are also a whole host of singing monks, who keep singing even as chaos ensues, (involving a giraffe). It’s Four Weddings and A Funeral all over again, only this time for kids! And congenial Jim Carter as an accountant, Abacus Crunch. The names! Equally compelling are Rakhee Thakrar (Lottie Bell) and Natasha Rothwell (Piper Benz) as characters Wonka meets in the laundry — everyone plays their part with enthusiasm and gusto!

A prequel to the 1971 Gene Wilder movie, there are links through the Oompa-Loompa and Pure Imaginations songs. Yet the songs in themselves are standout — and they should be, for they are by Neil Hannon. Noticeably they propel the action and plot rather than filling space and captivate in themselves. (We don’t talk about Tim Burton here!)

Could have done without the vomit jokes — these felt a bit Tik-Tokkish and clunky in the 1950s dream setting. But a minor quibble — go and be enchanted. The caprice of the film is young Wonka coming to a town to make his fortune (very Dick Whittington), being conned and how he gets himself and everyone else out of it with kindness, as well as dealing with his rivals. See it alone for the magical chocolate shop opening day.

It doesn’t quite have the full Dahl nastiness of the 1971 version (or the book), where people were doomed by their own greed and avarice for sweet things, and get their come-uppance through consumption. Here it’s all about chocolate making and Wonka wanting to charm his customers with confections. Hugh Grant is really coming into his own — for here is Grant as you’ve never seen him before! And in case you’ve not had a full quota of National Treasures, there is also Sally Hawkins as Wonka’s decreased mother — bringing some Paddington magic into proceedings, and a tear or two.

Unlike Violet Beauregarde, this confection won’t make you sick or bloated — it’s endearing, a delight from beginning to end. And there’s a giraffe heist…. with Simon Farnaby as the zoo security guard. Here it’s definitely what you imagine can sometimes come true…

Enjoyed reading this article?! Support my writing at: https://ko-fi.com/susanadventuresinculture