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-