Wonka Movie Review

I'm the type of person who is very much in touch with my childhood. My pre teen years were the 1980's and what a magical time that was, the technology kids have to play with these days didn't exist and we relied on our imaginations for fun. We pretended we could fly, that we were superheros and of course magical powers were a must, so for us, a movie like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where you entered a world of pure imagination was a must watch every time it came on the telly, which was normally Christmas time, and every Christmas we watched it.

Now we get to revisit this magical world as Wonka has returned to the silver screen but this time its not a remake, its a prequel, where we get to learn some of the back story of the worlds greatest chocolate maker Willy Wonka. Directed by Paul King (Paddington), this heart warming musical is the perfect movie to bring the kids to over the holiday season.

The movie starts with Wonka arriving in a victorian-esq town where the worlds greatest chocolate is made, with the dream of opening a chocolate sweet shop. But, his dreams are quickly shattered as he meets a chocolatier cartel (Matt Lucas, Matthew Baynton, Paterson Joseph) determined to stop him in his tracks and the evil duo Scrubbit and Bleacher (played by Olivia Coleman and Tom Davies) who run an evil washer house empire and imprison Wonka, where he meets his new friends who help him in his plight.

Timothee Chalamet is superb as Willy Wonka. Before watching the movie I thought there is no way anyone can match Gene Wilders performance but Chalamet proved me wrong. He plays the role with a wonderful charm, innocence and sincerity. Olivia Coleman who played Scrubbit, was like a villain straight out of a Dickensian world and was one of the standout roles for me, along with Hugh Grant as the original Oompa Loompa.

I loved the humour throughtout and there was some great new songs, writen by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy. They did not let the movie end though without treating us to Pure Imagination and I could not help but sing along to it.

Wonka is a magical musical and I think we will be seeing more from our zanny friend as they still have not told us what happened that turned Wonka into someone who was quite happy to let greedy children be punished, so watch this space...................................

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