Wonka is a sweet confection

Subtle nods to author Roald Dahl’s body of work and Gene Wilder’s candy man

Click the link to listen to my review

CBC Radio Information Morning in Saint John – Wonka

Wonka is from the creative mind of writer and director Paul King of Paddington fame and it shows. First off, if you haven’t seen the 2014 live-action film Paddington and its 2017 sequel Paddington 2, add both to your holiday watch list immediately. They are delightful and knowledge of the source material is not required.

Neither is it required for Wonka. This origin story of the madcap candy maker Willy Wonka spins a tale about the origins of Wonka’s chocolate obsession and creativity, but this young version of Wonka, played by Timothée Chalamet, is 100% pure sweetness and light.

There is no sign of the candy man of Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s classic story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, who dispatches bratty children with deliciously ingenious forms of punishment. I am one of the millions of children who loved the book, equal parts thrilled and horrified by Willy Wonka and his slightly sinister Oompa Loompas.

But that’s not the Wonka we meet in this film. Instead, he’s an innocent abroad, newly arrived in an unknown seaside city and eager to make his mark at the famous Galleries Gourmet, home to three of the world’s most famous chocolatiers.

Penniless and overly trusting of strangers, Willy is ensnared by the horrible Mrs. Scrubitt, played with menacing glee by Oscar-winner Olivia Coleman, who forces him to work in her laundry, alongside five other dupes, including young Noodle, played by Calah Lane. From there he hatches a wild and daring plan to escape, open his chocolate shop and wow the world.

The film, which is a musical, boasts a cast of famous faces singing and dancing including Keegan-Michael Key as the chief of police, Sally Hawkins as Willy’s late mother, Rowan Atkinson as a corrupt cleric, and Hugh Grant as Lofty, a revenge-seeking Oompa-Loompa.

Who’d have thought whimsical family films would be Hugh Grant's ‘character actor’ phase but here we are. He’s a hoot as the snooty Lofty, playing a version of himself in the body of an 18-inch orange-faced, green-haired magical creature. This is Grant’s second outing with King, having played the villain in Paddington 2.

You’ll also hear Chalamet sing ‘Pure Imagination’, Gene Wilder’s signature song from the 1973 film, from which King draws inspiration for the set design and costumes.

Wonka is in theatres now.