By Kolin Kriner
Delivering a bizarre world of pure imagination, “Wonka” directed by Paul King, is an instant classic based on the timeless book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl.
Filled to the brim with charismatic characters, beautiful storytelling and wonderful musical performances, the film delivers a masterfully crafted twist on its source material.
The movie pays much homage to the musical and film. Through attention to detail, it serves as a dark prequel to the original 1971 classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
Timothèe Chalamet leads the cast of this thrill ride on an adventure. He beautifully crafts his own unique perspective of this shockingly deep character.
Chalamet magically embodied the character, going above and beyond to pay beautiful homage to the classic character, originally played by Gene Wilder.
All the other eccentric characters still shone, however. The Oompa Loompas, all played by Hugh Grant, deliver frivolous thrills and humor that aid in crafting the plot.
Noodle, played by Calah Lane, delivers an emotional story centered around the character’s roots as an orphan stuck in perilous circumstances. All the characters gave amazingly quirky performances to really ice the layers on the cake that is this fascinating tale.
The score really drove into the emotions of each scene, with the cast delivering beautiful vocals. Balanced with a suspenseful backing that could bring tears to one’s eyes as this fascinating story unfolds.
The sets are hands-down one of the strongest components of the film. The setting is medieval, and Wonka delivers so much magic to each scene through his chocolate.
That chocolate is also a major driving force of this film, causing much of its chaos. Wonka begins selling it, and as competitors catch on to this, they kidnap him and Noodle, setting off the twisted events and imagery that will ensue.
This film is an instant musical classic, and without a doubt worth the watch.
As Wonka sang in the film, “Some people don’t and some people doodle,” and it’s definitely worth it to doodle.
