WONKA : Tuesday 19th December 2023.

I saw the PG Rated 'WONKA' earlier this week, and this musical fantasy film is Co-Written, based on a story and Directed by Paul King in his fourth feature film outing following his 2009 debut with 'Bunny and the Bull', then 'Paddington' in 2014 and 'Paddington 2' in 2017. This film tells the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character in the 1964 iconic novel 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl - one of the best selling children's books of all time. It had its World Premiere showcasing in London on 28th November, and was released in the UK on 8th December and here in Australia and the US last week, cost US$125M to produce, has so far grossed US$162M and has generated largely positive reviews.

Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet), an aspiring magician, inventor, and chocolatier, arrives by boat in Europe to establish his chocolate shop at the famed Galeries Gourmet. Burning through his meagre savings of just twelve silver sovereigns on his first day in the big city, he is offered an overnight stay at Mrs. Scrubitt's (Olivia Colman) boarding house by her henchman Bleacher (Tom Davis), and signs a lengthy contract despite orphan Noodle's (Calah Lane) warning about the need to read the fine print, which he merely glances over and duly signs. The cost of his one night stay is one silver sovereign, which Wonka commits to paying the next night and then he'll be on his way. 

To pay off his debt, the next day Wonka introduces 'hoverchocs' chocolates that make his customers fly at Galeries Gourmet. Facing mockery from three rival chocolatiers - Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Gerald Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Felix Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) who call the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) to confiscate his earnings for disrupting their businesses and conducting his business without a chocolate shop. 

Returning to Mrs. Scrubitt's later that evening with not a penny to his name and unable to pay for his board and lodging, Mrs. Scrubitt announces that the cost of Wonka's one night stay has escalated to 10,000 silver sovereigns due to the fees and penalties imposed on him under the terms of the agreed contract as signed by him. Wonka is therefore ordered to work in a launderette in the bowels of the her building from which there is no escape, and for the next twenty-seven years being the length of time it will take him to pay of his debt. He therefore joins five other captives all locked up for similar reasons, including Noodle. He learns of a 'Chocolate Cartel' from Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter) an accountant as one of the other five, of a plot involving the rival chocolatiers. Wonka makes Scrubitt and Bleacher fall in love by faking a story of how Bleacher is in fact an Austrian Prince, and facilitates his escape to sell chocolate with the help of Noodle, who will receive a lifetime supply of chocolates for her efforts. 

The Cartel exploits the Chief of Police's weakness for chocolate to force Wonka to leave town while Wonka tells Noodle that his passion for chocolate stems from his late mother (Sally Hawkins), who gave him one last chocolate bar, and vowed to be there with him when he became successful. Wonka tells Noodle about the theft of his chocolates by an enigmatic orange man with green hair who steals them from him at night and has been doing so for about the last four years. To produce his signature chocolate, Wonka needs a supply of giraffe milk, and so joined by Noodle, the pair visit the local zoo at night and once they have befriended and calmed Abigail the giraffe, Wonka begins milking her, filling up a small urn. 

Together with the other four captives, the group embark on selling chocolates to ultimately pay off their debts while using the underground storm drain covers to evade Scrubitt, the Cartel and the Chief. Trapping an Oompa Loompa named Lofty (Hugh Grant) as the thief in a upturned glass bell jar, Wonka discovers that the Oompa Loompa seeks pay back for the four cocoa beans Wonka took years ago under Lofty's watch while he napped on the remote island home of the Loompas. Lofty ingeniously dupes Wonka, so facilitating his escape.

Using the monies raised from selling his chocolates, the group of captives open Wonka's dream chocolate shop in the Galaries Gourmet opposite the three owned by the Cartel, The Chief and the Chocolate Cartel, informed of Wonka's endeavours and now unable to arrest him since he has a legitimate shop, denounce him to Scrubitt. Infusing his chocolates with Yeti sweat, Scrubitt incites chaos among the customers through a side effect being the rapid growth a multi-coloured facial hair among men, women and children. The customers quickly revolt, leading to the complete destruction of Wonka's new store. 

Facing much adversity, Wonka reluctantly agrees to the Cartel's offer to leave town by ship to pay off everyone's debts, and never to make chocolate again. Everyone is released from the launderette except for Noodle. Cartel member Slugworth pays Scrubbit to keep her there indefinitely. Before jumping off the dynamite rigged boat with Lofty, Wonka has a conversation with him during which in dawns on him that Noodle is Slugworth's niece. Noodle, who was reported dead to her birth mother Dorothy, was sold by Slugworth to Scrubitt in order to eliminate her claim to the family fortune. After rescuing Noodle with the help of the group, they devise a strategy to obtain the Cartel's incriminating set of real accounts rather than the fake set. 

The group set up a distraction at the local cathedral involving Father Julius (Rowan Atkinson) - a priest in cahoots with the Cartel and who is also addicted to chocolate, and Abigail who crashes a funeral for a local dignatory. This enables Wonka and Noodle to infiltrate the Cartel's base located directly under the cathedral, where they are confronted by the Cartel and almost drowned in thousands of gallons of released melted chocolate. Through the use of hoverchocs, Wonka enables Lofty to rescue them and unveils the Cartel's misdeeds. Exposing their actions to the authorities and the public, they release the Cartel's chocolate reserves through a fountain, which Wonka sprinkles his unique ingredients into, and so wrecking the Cartel's business once and for all. 

The Cartel, levitated uncontrollably by the super strength hoverchocs, meet their downfall, and the Police arrests their now seriously overweight Chief for his part in their business dealings, as duly recorded in the official set of accounts. The crowd revels in tasting Wonka's chocolate fountain, and Wonka has a vision of his mother in the crowd as they blow each other a kiss. He then unwraps his mother's chocolate bar, discovering a Golden Ticket with a message that says chocolate is best shared. Sharing his mother's chocolate with friends, Wonka helps Noodle reunite with her mother Dorothy whom they traced to a library close by and settles his debt with Lofty. 

With Lofty now ready to return to his island home, Wonka ask him to join him as his Chief Taster and to enjoy a lifetime of free chocolate, to which Lofty readily agrees. Wonka then acquires an abandoned castle to commence building a new chocolate factory. In a mid-credits scene, we see what became of the five members of Wonka's group and how Scrubitt and Bleacher are arrested after their attempt to destroy evidence of sabotaging Wonka's shop backfires.

I have to say that I had fairly low expectations going in to see 'Wonka' but came out having been pleasantly surprised. Here Director Paul King has crafted an origin story worthy of its predecessors with top rate production values, song and dance routines that don't feel over bloated or simply space fillers but help move the story along and showcase Timothee Chalamet's singing and dancing abilities that only serve to prove his versatility as a notable screen presence. This soft centred film has heart, whimsy and has genuine moments that made me chuckle even if the plot is a little thin on the ground, but that said you'll be hard pressed not to be carried along by this live action family friendly film that is a perfect fit for the festive season. 

'Wonka' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

JOHNNY ENGLISH : REBORN - archive from 5th October 2011.

Took the lad and his mate to see 'JOHNNY ENGLISH - REBORN' this arvo and as you would expect of Rowan Atkinson it combines the charm & gadgetry of James Bond; the campness of Austin Powers; the slapstick of Mr. Bean; and the wit & sarcasm of Edmund Blackadder. Directed by Oliver Parker this second (and so far last) instalment in the series was made for US$45M and grossed (perhaps unbelievably) US$160M, so clearly it found an audience who appreciated this for what it is, and the unique physical comedy of one Mr. Atkinson.


This film takes off five years after the first film ended and sees Agent English holed up in Tibet learning some mysterious ancient martial art and serving out his penance for the botched job he was held responsible for in Mozambique at the end of the last film - he has been stripped of his Knighthood too. Learning of a plot against a prominent world leader English's superiors back at MI-7 call for him to return to the London headquarters which is now led by 'Pegasus' (aka Pamela Thornton, played out by Gillian Anderson) who give English the details of what they know, and the plan to thwart the attack. This is where English comes in aided by gadget inventor extraordinaire Patch Quartermain (Tim McInnerney). The plot surrounds taking out the Chinese Premier while he is having talks with the British Prime Minister.

Fast forward to Hong Kong and the action takes us there as a group of assassins (known as 'Vortex') hold a secret weapon that can only be unlocked by three metallic keys - one of which comes into the hands of our fearless secret agent, who promptly loses it on a plane trip back to London. In the meantime however, it is learned that 'Vortex' were responsible for the mess in Mozambique, which pretty much absolves English from guilt, but this still needs concrete proof for the powers that be at MI-7 to believe him.

Various 'Vortex' assassins come and go until there is one remaining, and as the story moves along with the finger of suspicion pointed firmly within the KGB, CIA and even MI-7, English must uncover the truth and prevent the assassination attempt from going down in the Swiss Alps whilst trying to clear his own name and protect those around him - although, who can he really trust? With various set pieces involving a foot chase along the roof tops of Hong Kong; a low level helicopter flight to get to the nearest hospital; a getaway on a tandem bicycle; another getaway on a modified wheelchair; a drug that results in English fighting with himself; and when his Knighthood is about to be reinstated English beats up QEII thinking she is in fact a Vortex assassin, bur in reality she IS the real Queen.

Does any of this make any sense - ho hum, not really! It is one for the kids raising plenty of laughs, and for the (male) adults the redeeming feature is Gillian Anderson back on the big screen again looking as good as ever! Rosamund Pike and Dominic West also star, but the show is Atkinson's with a firm tongue-in-cheek nod to the spy genre with a dose of pratfalls, slapstick and sarcasm that he does so well.  See it on DVD on a wet afternoon, and save the price of cinema entry!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Rik Mayall - dies aged 56 - R.I.P.

Richard (Rik) Michael Mayall died at the family home in Barnes, London yesterday - 9th June, aged 56. Born on 7th March 1958, near Harlow in Essex, Rik Mayall heralded a new generation of alternative comedians in the early 1980's when the zeitgeist of the Thatcher years in Britain provided a rich source of material to fuel the comedic doldrums that had existed up to that time.

Pairing up in the mid-70's at University with Adrian (Ade) Edmondson who would go on to become a life long friend and writing and performing collaborator Mayall bombarded into the eighties with 'The Comic Strip Presents' followed by the iconic 'The Young Ones' in which he starred with Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Christopher Ryan over twelve ground breaking episodes. This led to frequent guest appearances as 'Lord Flashheart' in a number of 'Blackadder' episodes over four very successful series, and then onto the likes of 'Filthy Rich and Catflap', 'The New Statesman' and 'Bottom'.

Throughout his small screen career playing often with black humour, physical comedy and well choreographed sight gags he dabbled too in big screen productions including 'Drop Dead Fred', 'Guest House Paradiso', 'Carry on Columbus', 'Little Noises', 'Evil Calls', 'Day of Sirens', and most recently 'Errors of the Human Body', as well as lending his voice talents to a number of other characters in both film and television.

He was very much part of the new wave of comedic talent that emerged in the early 80's that are still relevant today, and for the most part can still be seen on both the small and big screen and in the UK domestic, and international scene - think, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Billy Connolly, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ben Elton and Adrian Edmondson.

In 1998, Mayall had a serious quad bike accident at his farm in Devon which left him in a coma for several days from which he was not expected to recover. Defying the doctors, he did, but as a result suffered epilepsy for which he had to take daily medication - it is unknown at this stage if there is any connection here with his death yesterday.

Mayall is survived by his three children - Rosie, Sidney and Bonnie, and his wife Barbara Robin.

Rik Mayall - Rest In Peace
1958-2014

-Steve, at Odeon Online-