Wonka (2023) is a musical fantasy comedy film. After having watched legendary film 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (2005) where Willy Wonka's character has been immortalized by Johnny Depp in one of the best flicks ever made, I had very high expectations of Wonka (2023). Also, because the movie was much hyped and marketed across the world. But after watching it, I had mixed feelings.
First of all, the casting of Timothée Chalamet in the role of Willy Wonka was the best thing about this movie and a 'masterstroke'. Timothée has done many other period drama films and already shown his immense talent. Willy Wonka's role came as a cake walk for the super talented actor.
In Wonka (2023), we are exposed to an imaginary world designed on the pattern of "colonial Europe". The movie shows most of the exploiters as White/European. We also see plenty of characters of African origin and hence the place has become totally of mixed-race which is a design in Hollywood these days. The masters are shown keeping slave-like servants. The characters speak in a comic way, and there is a background score to help too, in trying to make an impression that we are watching a comedy or a children's film and perhaps also hide the depressing exploitation going on in the plot where most people are shown as cheats and thugs. All the businessmen are painted as dishonest capitalists in the movie.
There is a small girl of African origin, who says, "the greedy beat the needy every time Mr. Wonka. Guess it's the way of the world." Seems pretty harsh reality thrust down the throats of children watching a magician making chocolate with "liquid sunlight" and "condensed thundercloud". I did not like it.
It is okay to tell kids about evil people; after all monsters and demons are a constant in children's stories. But it is completely different to show evilness in "everyday people" because that is something which belongs to the adult world. The movie seems like training children into becoming cynics and plotting a society suffering from isolation and broken families.
The movie shows other chocolate makers bribing a policeman in order to stop Wonka from selling chocolates; teaching children about jealousy, bribery and dishonesty of police.
Later, in order to gain favor, Wonka tells the associate of the hotel owner that "she loves you", and in a rhyme, tells him to "show her some thigh" which is highly objectionable. I wonder why teaching immorality to young audiences was necessary for the film-makers.
Somehow everyone in this movie speaks while looking at the other person with eyes wide open "without blinking". It gets very weird after a while.
There are lots of scenes moving at very slow place and it is almost boring. The movie brings an weird scene where Wonka is milking a giraffe and the scene is shot in the most boring way possible while Wonka talks to the girl (without blinking his eyes, of course).
The movie is revolving around lives of "orphans" which is supposed to be depressing enough for kids. But the movie makers have tried hard to make it 10 times more depressing by shooting most of the scenes in the dark and confined places. Yes, even the giraffe in the zoo is shown standing inside a "room".
On the plus side, the movie shows humans "flying", perhaps playing on the kids who love imagining it. A little consolation for an otherwise insane plot.
After the "flying with balloons" scene, Wonka dances with the girl from African origin, and it is almost romantic; which should have been strictly no-no for a children's movie. All children's stories tell about kings and queens who are married, but it is a different thing altogether to show that a teenage boy and a girl made to dance in a romantic manner without any context or need in the plot.
Due to its absurd plot and the movie makers not able to decide who their target audience were, and hence mixing children's imagination with commercial greed of the adult world, I would rate Wonka (2023) as 4/10. I would rather wish to have given it a miss.
- Rahul
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