Wonka

There have been mixed reviews about the new Wonka movie starring Timothy Chalamet. With two previous Wonka movies the first thing I have to say is that absolutely nobody asked for this. When watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory no one in the history of ever has thought, well how did Wonka start making chocolate? So right off the bat this movie is entirely unnecessary. Now that I have seen it I can confirm that mixed is in fact the best way to describe this movie. When first seeing the trailer I knew that this movie was going to be really hit or miss and I was in fact correct.

Let’s start with some of the good, the visuals. The color, the cinematography, and the visual effects were fantastic. The movie is beautiful, fantastical, and truly wonderful to look at. Every visual element of the movie was virtually perfect.

The casting was also awesome. Timothy Chalametemee was a great choice, acting wise. He balanced his performance between goofy and unhinged and it was very well done. Olivia Colman continues to be the best part of everything she’s in. And the supporting characters were all fantastic.

Okay…now the music. First of all the ensemble was amazing. The villain’s song was catchy and entertaining. Everytime the ensemble sang it felt like it fit the grandeur of the musical. Now the music itself was on and off. There were some good moments (Sweet Tooth), some mediocre moments (You’ve Never Had a Chocolate Like This) and some truly terrible moments (Scrub Scrub). But really the most disappointing part was Chalamet. I am so so sorry but he can not sing. I’m not sure why we moved away from getting actual singers to dub for actors but we need to go back to that. Normally when I have a problem with singing in movie musicals it's because the singers are doing something technically wrong. This time it was simply because he wasn’t good. Everytime he sang it was giving middle school talent show, or only straight tenor in the high school production. It was really hard to listen to.

The story itself was fine, there were some unnecessary elements but for the most part there was nothing egregious. After they escaped and made the chocolate fountain in the middle of town that is when the movie should have ended. We really didn’t need the last 10 minutes and no one needed Chalamet butchering Pure Imagination. Also I am really really tired of dead mom storylines. Good lord, please choose something else. Did you know life can be sad even if your mom is alive? Also does everyone have mommy issues? If you need to kill off a parent, let's get rid of a dad or two. Anyway that was unnecessary. The only other thing that raised more questions than answers is how on earth we went from one Oompa Loompa to like 20? If they have their own island why did they come to the chocolate factory? If they really looked down on shorty pants then why would they follow him? How on earth did we go from “head of the tasting department” to literal slaves? See I have questions.

Overall the movie was…fine. Nothing more. I would give it a very generous 6/10. Chalamet is a good actor but I am begging everyone in Hollywood to never let him sing again. Please bring back casting (or at least hiring) actual singers to replace the voices of actors who were hired with no musical talent whatsoever. The movie that nobody asked for was in fact no more than mediocre.