351: Wonka

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[00:00:06] 59. Let's get to Wonka, which came out late last year. It's directed by Paul King who also directed Paddington 1 & 2, which I love.

[00:00:17] Stars Timothy Chalamet, Gustav Dye, Murray McArthur, Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman, Matt Lucas, Keegan-Michael Key, Jim Carter, and a few others.

[00:00:31] And the synopsis is,

[00:00:33] So, I was interested very much in seeing this when it came out. I didn't see it in theaters, I just saw it recently.

[00:00:52] Timothy Chalamet has really grown on me a lot over the years. I didn't love him when he first started out, but I think he's becoming really one of the most interesting, like true movie stars right now up and coming.

[00:01:04] And he's a great actor. He has great variety. And even just his last few movies really showcases that.

[00:01:12] But I grew up watching the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but I always was sort of scarred by it because the Oompa Loompa Men horrified me as a child.

[00:01:24] So I always had this weird fear of that movie. And when this one came out after I watched it, I rewatched the original and I also rewatched the Tim Burton one, which I also really like.

[00:01:35] So I didn't really know what to expect going in, putting all that aside. I didn't know what to expect going into this one. I didn't know fully what the concept of the movie was.

[00:01:45] I knew it was kind of an origin story, but that's about it. And Paul King, he, as I said earlier, I think he's very underrated.

[00:01:54] Both Paddington movies are awesome in my opinion. I think that we need more movies like them that are such earnest, kind, simple storytelling, but they're told so well.

[00:02:04] And I think that's exactly what this movie is too. So I think Paul King, I cannot wait to see what he does next.

[00:02:11] And I think I'm going to be following his career from here on out because he is a very unique voice. But I think the movie is excellent.

[00:02:20] I don't think it's a masterpiece. There are some small issues with the movie that bring it down a little bit, but as with the Paddington movies, there is that very heartwarming, good natured, not overly complicated sort of traditional feel to these movies and kind of a coming of age as well.

[00:02:38] Timothy Chalamet, awesome. Some people were saying he's miscast. I didn't really get that. I thought he was quite good and he can sing fairly well. I'm looking forward to his Bob Dylan biopic.

[00:02:51] So he's a great foundation to the movie. It looks fantastic. Like Paul King has a great eye, visual eye, that very rich, lavish, but not necessarily like Tim Burton lavish, very grounded, restrained, rich visual aesthetic.

[00:03:07] So I think the movie looks amazing. I love the color palette. The music is great. Like I think one thing that I talked about recently was some musical. I can't remember which one it was.

[00:03:17] One issue I've had over the last really decade with a lot of new musicals is half the time, I cannot understand what they're saying. And I don't know if that's a sound mixing issue, a acting issue, whatever it is.

[00:03:32] But so many musicals that have seemingly have good music, I cannot understand half or more of what they're saying. And in this, I thought the music was very classical in nature and rhythm and melody.

[00:03:46] I thought the enunciation by the actors and maybe that goes partially into sound mixing. I'm not sure. I thought that was spot on. So I was loving the music and that really reminded me a lot of The Greatest Showman, which is one of the only other ones I can think of over the last decade or so where I can actually hear and understand what actors are saying in song.

[00:04:09] And so I think these two musicals are some of the best in that way. Hugh Grant is awesome as the Oompa Loompa Man. I also think that if you haven't seen any Willy Wonka movies, maybe that's the point is you could easily get into this. You don't really have to know much backstory at all about the others.

[00:04:28] So that's a strong point. It's a good introduction to new audiences, perhaps. Really one of the only flaws is not that it's too long, but I think the third act or so sort of drags because it mainly gets into plot of these cartel chocolatiers, which is alright.

[00:04:48] I'm not against that sort of lot, but I think the third act gets bogged down by too much exposition. The music drops off like there's maybe one song, if any, in the third act. And so that part feels very in some ways totally off from the first two acts because for the most part it's gliding along really briskly.

[00:05:09] There are songs fairly consistently and then suddenly like the third act comes along and it says, alright we got to take the cartel down. And then it seems like all that goes away. But not a big deal. That would just be my least favorite part of the movie.

[00:05:22] But can't really say enough about the costume design, the production design, the effects look really good. I know the budget was fairly high, but looks awesome. I love even though this is part of a IP, a franchise, I guess you could call it.

[00:05:36] I still like fairly original blockbusters like this. We don't get enough of those, so I'm hoping that we get many more like them in the future.

[00:05:45] The scene at the zoo with the giraffe, love that song, love that dance number. Like the choreography is another excellent part of the music too. So it's all top notch. Can't say enough about it. I highly recommend it.

[00:05:59] Wouldn't have been favorite of the year, but it's one that I think I'll always go back to because as with all walking movies, it always lifts my spirits up. It always makes me want to be even more kind and good to others.

[00:06:14] And so I think that's kind of a rarity these days because it really is in my opinion at least trying to give out the right messages especially to a younger audience. So that's a big, big mark in my book.

[00:06:28] So that is a heavy four out of five.

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