WONKA
Cert PG
116 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild threat, violence, implied bad language
"Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination."
Wonka takes us back to what cinema should be. A family film that prompts children's jaws to drop and parents to forget life's pressures.
No wonder it has been a box office phenomenon all over the world, knocking other Christmas releases such as Aquaman into a magical cocked hat.
Sadly, the only folk it hasn't moved are those who will be judging Academy Awards and seemed to have had their heads turned by the much inferior Barbie.
Paul King's musical is a prequel to Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, and it stars the fabulous Timothée Chalamet in the title role.
He arrives from a ship with the dream of buying premises for a chocolate shop and 12 sovereigns to his name, but they slip away in less than a day.
Thus, he is offered a room by what he believes is a kindly gentleman (Tom Davis), only to find himself trapped with others in the hotel of a villainous landlady (Olivia Colman).
The brilliance of Wonka is whatever the odds, he will always have a trick (and chocolate) up his sleeve.
Thus, he continues to confound the landlady and three evil chocolate shop owners (Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Mathew Baynton) who have, until now, cornered the market.
On his side is a bright young girl (Calah Lane), and he makes a surprising ally of an Oompa Loompa, played with hilarious self-mockery by an eigh-inch-tall Hugh Grant.
Wonka looks fantastic - its sets are brightly coloured, and its characters are gloriously flamboyant.
Its set pieces are so imaginative that they prompted Mrs W to ask afterwards: "Who has the creativity to dream them up?"
The plot, which could have been an afterthought, engages until the end, and the songs are super.
Now the big question... how does Chalamet compare with Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka?
I loved them both, too, but he definitely holds his own.
If you haven't watched it, do yourself a favour and see Wonka.
Reasons to watch: Simply magical
Reasons to avoid: If you haven't got a heart
Laughs: Four
Jumps: None
Vomit: Retching
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 9.5/10
Did you know? Wonka is a real surname. Notable people with the surname include: Pavel Wonka, Czechoslovak dissident and victim of communist terror and French rapper Salif Wonka.
The final word. Timothée Chalamet: "To work on something that will have an uncynical young audience, that was just a big joy. That's why I was drawn to it. In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there's so much bad news all the time, this is hopefully going to be a piece of chocolate." A. Frame
Posting Komentar untuk "Wonka; movie review"