‘Wonka’ Is Equal Parts Sugar, Corn Syrup, and Artificial Flavoring, With Nothing Added To Make Viewers Care

Does the famous fictional chocolatier cooked up by Roald Dahl, Willy Wonka, need an origin story? Are viewers dying to know how he came to learn his craft, why it became his passion, and when he opened his factory? The new movie, “Wonka,” seems to think so as it focuses on a 20-something Wonka, with a couple of flashbacks to when he was a little boy. The problem with providing a backstory for such a beloved character like Wonka is that when you make one up, it had better be a good one. Unfortunately, the story that director and writer Paul King and co-writer Simon Farnaby devised is equal parts sugar, corn syrup, and artificial flavoring, with nothing substantial added to the character to make viewers care. His love of chocolate is ascribed to his late mother, the factory conjured up with a simple wave of his walking stick, and how he learned his craft is barely addressed. Ever since its preview debuted earlier this year, this “Wonka” has met with speculation, derision, and controversy, some of which pertained to Hugh Grant playing an Oompa-Loompa, Dahl’s nod in the original story to humans with dwarfism. The deceased Dahl himself has had to contend with politically correct rewrites of his books earlier this year. It helps to remember, though, that the author dealt with similar issues when he changed the skin color of the Oompa-Loompas after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People noted racism in the first edition’s pygmy population. Dahl even intended for the little boy who becomes heir to Wonka’s business, Charlie, to be Black but was talked out of it by his agent.Whether audiences will ignore the chatter and naysaying regarding the new movie is beyond me, though I can say it’s not a total saccharine spit-out, particularly once one overlooks the fact that the “origin story” is as thin as a candy wrapper. What this new take on the character is most concerned with is not inspiration but commerce: how did young Wonka set up his first candy shop? To that end, we see Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) arrive in a generic European city and begin to hawk his already-perfected wares busker-style in a shopping gallery similar to Milan’s majestic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Soon, though, he discovers that there’s a “Chocolate Cartel” in town, with its three representatives willing to do anything to keep an upstart from hurting their respective confection companies.This new “Wonka” is also a musical, as was the case with the first movie version depicting the character, 1971’s “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” and to a lesser extent 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Those hoping the music whips the rather uninspired story to exquisite heights will be left disappointed, as I was, by the pedestrian songs by the mastermind behind the otherwise great baroque pop act, the Divine Comedy, Neil Hannon. For the most part, the songs’ melodies lack earworms, their lyrics tang, and the arrangements luster. Only one song, “You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This,” feels like a bona-fide belter, with its visual elaboration on screen also a blast. Still, it’s telling that the filmmakers use the wondrous ballad from the 1971 film, “Pure Imagination,” as a refrain at the start of their movie and as a proper finale. Very few songwriters today can compete with the talent and skill of the late songwriting team of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. It almost goes without saying that Mr. Chalamet, too, cannot compete with Gene Wilder’s portrayal of Wonka, though the young actor does throw in a couple of loving references to the late actor’s cherished portrayal. Even when compared with Johnny Depp’s polarizing performance in the 2005 version, Mr. Chalamet’s cheerful but mild choices don’t gain in estimation. It’s hard to believe that his Wonka will grow up to be the wonderfully weird and acerbic candymaker we all know and love.The rest of the cast tries its best, yet only a few shine through, particularly the sweetly innocent Calah Lane as Wonka’s orphan partner-in-crime, Noodle. Unfortunately, as Mrs. Scrubbit, the usually brilliant Olivia Coleman seems primarily to be auditioning for the part of Mrs. Lovett or Madame Thénardier in future productions of “Sweeney Todd” or “Les Misérables.” Rowan Atkinson appears as well, bringing his “Mr. Bean” schtick to the depiction of a priest embroiled in scandal.Allusions to corporate greed, religious hypocrisy, and law enforcement corruption are mixed into the story, yet these hot-button issues can’t flavor what is essentially bland eye candy. Indeed, cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung brushes each shot with an appetizing sheen, yet snacking is the furthest thing on a viewer’s mind while watching.Topmost on our minds isn’t chocolate but whether Wonka will ever tell us how he came to construct his portable candy-making machine, thereby stimulating our taste buds with glimpses at the creative process. Alas, those curious details remain unexplored, but we do get a rather heavy-handed endorsement of libraries. In that case, read Dahl’s book instead.

‘Wonka’ Is Equal Parts Sugar, Corn Syrup, and Artificial Flavoring, With Nothing Added To Make Viewers Care

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