Wonka was released on December 8th in the UK and on December 15th in the US. It garnered pretty good reviews upon release, making $553 million from a budget of $125 million. Going into the movie I was skeptical because I wasn’t sure whether the movie was successful because it was actually good or because the main character is played by a popular actor. After actually watching the film, I believe it only grossed so much because it starred Timothée Chalamet.
While I do think it was a bad movie, it did have some good aspects. The main highlights were the music and the visuals. The music was, unexpectedly, not terrible, using tweaked instrumental versions of some songs from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory such as The Oompa Loompa song and Pure Imagination, along with adding some songs that weren’t anything monumental but were alright. As previously mentioned, the visuals were also good, as everything felt very Willy Wonka-esque. But that’s where my praises for the movie end.
The story was bland at best. Each plot beat was more predictable than the last. The main character is down on his luck but someone seemingly nice helps him out, but then it turns out the main character gets scammed and now has to pay off his newly acquired debt. After a while, the main character ends up buying a shop and he’s super happy, but then the bad guys find a way to destroy the shop. It’s so simple and predictable that it got boring very fast. This would be absolutely fine if the movie was catered towards kids, but it’s not. Several times in the movie they swear and they use guns. It isn’t enough to give it a PG-13 rating, but it’s just enough to keep parents from playing it for their kids. So it’s a little too much for kids but not enough for adults. Who was this even made for then? I believe it shouldn’t have been made at all.
When I first heard that they were making a Willy Wonka movie, I assumed that they were making a sequel to the original or maybe even remaking it again. It had never crossed my mind to show Willy Wonka’s backstory since it wasn’t really necessary and it was uninteresting. Not only was it unnecessary, but it was actively discouraged by Gene Wilder, the actor who originally played the iconic character. He stated in an interview that he felt Tim Burton’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory was an insult, so I can’t imagine he’d feel much different towards this boring, basic, and frankly bad prequel. Gene Wilder unfortunately passed away in August of 2016 and around two months later, Warner Bros. announced that Wonka (2023) was in development. Kind of suspicious timing if you ask me – it’s almost as if they were waiting for something to happen. As if they were waiting for a certain very influential someone to not be able to bash the movie they were making.
Overall, it wasn’t a very memorable movie. I’ll probably never watch it again. 4/10.
