Everyone has a movie from their childhood that made them believe in something grand or changed the way they saw the world or experienced it. For me, it was Hook starring Robin Williams and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Both seemed unimaginable but easy to understand and like they wasn’t talking down to me as a child. And that feeling of wonder became part of my story and something that I still hold close to me as an adult. I didn’t think that Hollywood in this day and age could recreate that sort of feeling inside of me. Or that I could experience that joy again as an adult because I watched so many TV shows and movies. Then Wonka came around.
Wonka reminds me of what it is to be a kid. How you’re trying to figure out who you are while honoring your past and carving out a path for yourself. Or how everything seems so brand new and like you’re experiencing it for the first time in human existence. There’s just this magic in the air when you’re a kid and the heroes seem larger than life and the villains have a little bit of cartoon evil nature to them because you still haven’t experienced true horror and think that the bad guy always loses at the end of the day. It’s innocence and hope tied in together in the face of uncertainty or woes that we might face. And I felt that, this all encompassing feeling, when I watched Wonka.
The success of Wonka was a combination of this nostalgia from childhood also combined with Timothée Chalamet’s performance as Willy Wonka. Gene Wilder solidified this character as one of the most interesting characters I think I’ve ever seen in a movie. And I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think Chalamet could do it. And this is after watching him in other movies like Dune. Because Willy Wonka has a personality that is multi-tiered and larger than life. But Chalamet came in and absolutely won me over with his joy, showmanship, determination, and how he just gave himself completely to the role and transformed into the character. I didn’t see Chalamet when I saw Willy Wonka. I saw the character.
Admittedly the outfit helped. The color of the jacket and the hat made him stand out amongst the prim and proper and the down on their luck. It felt like I couldn’t pin down where Willy belonged. I think that was intentional because he got to build his own space and define who he wanted to be on his own terms. And this happened within the first 10 minutes of the movie. Something like that is exceptionally rare in Hollywood nowadays when you’re taking such a beloved property and transforming it into something new. But Chalamet did it with an infectious joy that made me want to see Willy succeed and also made me feel like I was a member of the crowd in the movie watching his performance in wonder.
Another thing that really helped this movie come to life was the set design. From the laundry place to the chamber underneath the church, there was intentionality behind every set. The laundry place was dower and gray, with Olivia Colman‘s hair being this dry wheat color that hints that she’s been bleaching her hair for a very long time and probably with the bleach from the laundry. On the flip side, the central hub for chocolate had the bosses in upper floors, in positions of power, and in impeccable suits that were distinct to each businessman. Willie’s inventions also felt grounded but out of this world as they walked a fine line between magic and a world like our own. And the shop and factory at the end felt like a kid’s imagination come to life, something key to the OG Wilder Wonka.
While I could go on and on about the multitude of things that I loved about Wonka, I think I’m going to end it on the cast. The actress who played Noodle (Calah Lane) absolutely stole every scene that she was in. She was the smartest of the bunch and you knew it. And her pain and joy made me invested in her story and happiness. The same thing goes for the other people that we’re stuck in the laundry with them. All distinct personalities and I wanted them to be happy. The only one that I didn’t want to see happy were the businessman and Colman’s character. They were the bad guys with the businessman as caricatures that fit the plot and theme of this movie. And Colman’s character was giving Miss Trunchbull from 1996’s Matilda to a degree where they could be relatives. Basically, she ate. They all ate.
Whoops. I lied. We can’t end this review without giving flowers to the music of Wonka. While I think that Chalamet isn’t the best singer, I believe that makes his songs more endearing. He’s singing these things from a place of love and hope for the dream that his mother nurtured. And there were moments where the music came on, like the opening scene, where I felt genuinely emotional, adding to why I love this movie. I felt like they were honoring the original material (book and film) in subtle ways that accompanied Chalamet himself honoring Wonka as a character. Ultimately, I left the movie theater feeling like I have a new yearly classic to watch and like I need to consume everything that Chalamet has ever done because that young man is talent personified. And I need more.
Wonka is now playing in theaters.
