From Dune to Tune

When the SAG-AFTRA strike last year delayed the release of a number of movies, it broke up a double-dose of Timothée Chalamet: the originally-scheduled release date of Dune Part Two would have seen it in theaters at the same time as Wonka, the musical prequel centered on one of author Roald Dahl's most beloved characters. I wound up having that double feature experience anyway. Wonka has just arrived to stream on Max, and so I have indeed chased worm-riding, knife-fighting, war-leading Chalamet with singing, dancing Chalamet.

I think I'm one of the very few people of my generation not to hold the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in the highest regards. By not watching it until I was older, it seems I was rendered immune to many of the movie's charms. But one that still connected was the performance of Gene Wilder. So while I was not as skeptical of this new prequel as I'm sure many were, I was still probably a bit cautious in my expectations of what a Wonka prequel would look like.

In the months since Wonka's original release, the online consensus seems to have become that while the movie is generally "good," Chalamet's take on the main character lacks the occasionally sinister undercurrent of Wilder's take. And that is true; if you come here looking for anything like a Gene Wilder impersonation, you're going to be disappointed. But I think that expectation is overlooking a key feature of the writing of Roald Dahl.

I don't pretend to be a Dahl scholar when I say this. (I don't think I've even actually read any of his books, but I've consumed enough film adaptations to have observed this.) Every Dahl story I've seen is littered with monstrous villains whose evil is exaggerated to a comedic extreme. Set in direct opposition to that is the impossibly virtuous, even naive, protagonist at the story's heart. When Simon Farnaby and director Paul King set out to write the screenplay for Wonka, they were creating a new story, but very much wanted to be faithful to Dahl's style. And so they've made a completely pure protagonist of Wonka. No, none of Gene Wilder's at-the-margins darkness is here, because that's not likely how Dahl would have written this story (had he actually done so).

Timothée Chalamet gives a performance perfectly suited to that take on the character. But it's also something of a thankless role, being the wild-eyed "child" in a Roald Dahl (inspired) story. The fun here is had by the supporting cast playing the monstrous villains I spoke of, and so the real scene-stealers of the movie are Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Rowan Atkinson, Tom Davis... and most of all, Olivia Colman. (But come on, you knew that. Olivia Colman is always the best thing about everything she's in.)

Another key feature is the lineup of catchy songs. There's nothing here that's going to compete with "Pure Imagination." (Though the filmmakers don't run from that; both it and versions of the "Oompa Loompa" song with new lyrics are included here.) Still, Neil Hannon has crafted several earworms that'll stay in your head long after the end credits have rolled.

So, while your mileage may vary here depending on your love for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or Roald Dahl generally, I found Wonka to be a pleasant enough spectacle for the eyes and ears. I give it a B.