This past Sunday, we saw Wonka, the prequel to Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Both follow the same story of Roald Dahl’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, released in 1964. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp, has a different backstory to the great chocolatier (and everyone is in general agreement that it is the worst movie of them all).  

This story follows a young Willy Wonka, before his claim to fame as a chocolatier, set in a fictional city in Europe.  Wonka has his eyes set on a storefront for sale in the Galleries Gourmet where he will open his chocolate shop.  The Galleries Gourmet features three high-end chocolate shops owned by three unsweet owners; Fickelgruber, Prodnose, and the notorious Slugworth.  Wonka had gone to the ends of the Earth to find all the perfect ingredients for his chocolate and was ready to start a store where he could sell it all.  When he arrives in the city to begin his journey, he naively allows a man to show him to an inn where he can stay the night.  When payment issues go awry with hidden fees, Wonka is left to do work in the laundry room until his dues are paid.  He meets Noodle and four others who are stuck working for the innkeepers. Escaping every day from the laundry room, the group of six helps Wonka start his chocolate-selling business, but the three infamous businessmen make numerous attempts to foil Wonka’s plans.

Timothée Chalamet delivers an impressive performance as Willy Wonka himself.  Though no Gene Wilder, the theater was shocked with his singing. It was better than we thought, but still sounded a little like high school theater. Calah Lane made her debut in the movie industry as Noodle.  The audience empathizes with her and even Lane’s voice is great when she sings.  The part that people were most excited about (Shannon) was Hugh Grant’s performance of one of the iconic Oompa Loompas.  He is famous for not liking the roles he plays, and Wonka was no different. He said on the recent press tour, “I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more, I slightly hate making films but I have lots of children and need money.”  Despite this, he embraced the comical orange man with as much grace and poise as an Oompa Loompa can allow.  He humors audiences with a song “so ruinously catchy that it may never leave your mind,” which then is followed by the classic Oompa Loompa song with a little dance as well. 

As far as our opinion goes, the movie exceeded our expectations, even though we walked into the theater expecting something different. Lily was, to put it frankly, ecstatic. When the movie started, she was even singing “Pure Imagination” along with the opening credits with Shannon rolling her eyes.  Shannon, on the other hand, thought it was going to be some cheesy spin-off of the classic Gene Wilder film. But she was wrong.  We can both agree that this movie exceeded our expectations, leaving audiences of all ages feeling like kids again.