My Wonka (2023)Review: From No one Important but Someone who Loves Musical Theater and Film (SPOILERS)

I’m also going to preface all this by admitting I really do like the movie, but from a critical standpoint we have to answer the question — is this even good? I have no professional background in reviewing film or music but have an undying love to musicals and respect for the it done right in an age of Hollywood that panders to cash-grabbing and watered down films.

So, let’s discuss Wonka.

*Not all pieces of the movie or songs will be mentioned because we can’t be here all day, but I wanted to talk about a few things that stood out to me.

Timothee Chalamet’s Wonka

Let’s start with probably the most polarizing part of Wonka, Timothee Chalamet. We have a good deck of comedic characters and actors that can pull this movie off, but I just think Timothee Chalamet doesn’t match his costars’ energy. Characters that offer an almost campy, but committed, performance to their silly and absurd characters include: Oliva Coleman as Mrs. Scrubbit, Tom Davis as Bleacher, Keegan Michael-Key as the Chief of Police, and all the Chocolate Cartel made up of Paterson Joseph as Arthur Slugworth, Matt Lucas as Gerald Prodnose, and Mathew Baynton as Felix Fickelgruber (most of which are comedians or have been in comedies before).

Where these actors pull off the whimsical and caricature-like characters they set out to play, Chalamet falls short. He doesn’t match their zaniness. Instead, he gives a lackluster performance of a role that should blow the rest of the cast out of the water, surpassing them as the titular star character. People who go into this film remember the likes of Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp in the previous renditions of Roald Dahl’s sugar galore adventure.

One can argue that Chalamet’s Wonka is a younger version, having not yet seen the success and decline of his chocolatier factory, thus having a different personality. But, I say that’s not cutting it. Chalamet’s Wonka seems uninterested and flat where he should be quirky and funny, much like nostalgic Wonkas we’ve had in the past.

Another thing I want to mention is that Timothee Chalamet’s Wonka seems to randomly choose where in the script he wants to be eccentric and funny. I mean, must compare this lackluster reading to this “crazy” one. I feel like Chalamet shouldn’t be too timid to express Wonka’s odd but funny mannerisms, but not too random as to produce an uncharacteristic acting choice.

Overall, I think this film gave Chalamet the opportunity to highlight his singing voice, which is pretty good. Does he have the chops to stand up on Broadway and do this? Maybe not (It’s giving Nick Jonas in Les Miserables, IYKYK). But I think he didn’t hit the mark for me in terms of bringing to life a convincing Wonka. That’s not to say I don’t think he’s an amazing actor in other films, but I don’t see Willy Wonka when I watch this movie, I see Timothee.

Now let’s get into what I thought about the songs. When thinking of the music, I’m drawing on my own preferences as being an avid attendee to many a stage musicals in my time, plus the genius ravings of Sideways, a Youtuber who makes videos on music and music theory. In his video “Why A Goofy Movie is Better Than You Remember”, he mentions the ease in which music should blend with the plot to make the story cohesive. Adding songs to just add songs does not make a good musical. It’s like if Elphaba from Wicked sang a song about how she likes the color of her broom and then explains through dialogue to the audience that she doesn’t side with The Wizard and exits the stage without the power number that is “Defying Gravity”. It just would not make sense. So with this in mind, let’s discuss the songs in Wonka:

“Never Had Chocolate Like This”

This is probably the closest Chalamet gets to Wonka for me. I can hear the emotions that drive Wonka in this scene like his hustling, lively spirit passion in his work albeit I can tell this looks like an out of body experience for the actor. I have no notes almost. Enjoy, because I don’t think it lasts long.

“Scrub Scrub”

I don’t like “Scrub Scrub” by itself, but I feel like it could have been more instrumental in showing the friendship that blossoms between Wonka’s fellow laundry servants that were swindled by Mrs. Scrubbit. There are several times where a reference to “Scrub Scrub” could have been interwoven into the plot more: the moment they all become part of Wonka’s operation to sell chocolate, the scene where the group breaks Noodle out of the coop before they agree to help Wonka with his heist, and during Wonka’s store’s grand opening.

Again, information that could have made its way into the lyrics should have been all these characters’ introductions. This song also gave me “Hard Knock Life” from Annie vibes, which I thought was interesting.

“Sweet Tooth”

I feel like this song actually works the way it was intended. While it does little in establishing these four characters’ motives for wanting to take down Wonka since that’s already covered elsewhere in the movie, it does show the inner workings between the Chocolate Cartel members and the Chief of Police. This song shows the audience a new important plot point with the bribing of Key’s character. Plus, it’s just catchy as hell and is backed by strong comedic performances across the board.

However, if we want to be picky, I really would have loved more of the song. It’s so short. It also feels the most similar to a good musical number where we have a little chorus line dancing and showcases humor with big music. As the song hits a high it ends just as soon as it starts. Honestly, I just like the song enough to want more of it.

Story wise, I would have liked there to be mention of the green accounting book. This could have been a good opportunity to throw some more information in it to be used as a plot device. We eventually find out that this green book is where they keep proof of their bribes and illegal activity, becoming integral to the story. Instead we get dialogue that explains these details with a very reminiscent Mr. Fantastic Fox white board montage (reminded me of the three farmers).

“Oompa Loompa”

I think a good example of a song done right, in terms of how music pushes forward the plot, is seen in Hugh Grant’s Oompa Loompa song. This song neatly explains the character’s relevant to the story like what business he has with Wonka and why he steals the chocolate. The little dance that goes along with the song is stupid and absurd, but it fits the tune of the movie so I’m not gonna takes points away from that. Hugh Grant brings a type of “British old-man” humor which has served him well in films like Love Actually or Music and Lyrics. And he’s a long-time star so we as the audience should be familiar with his ability to entertain in the comedic arena. While Chalamet’s presence in the film feels like a test in trying to convince us.

“A World Of Your Own”

I absolutely adore the creativeness in Wonka’s shop we see in the film. It’s exactly what I wanted to see when thinking of an early Wonka shop pre-Golden Ticket era.

“Sorry Noodle”

Trash (lol) – was hardly sung as a proper song, too short, and I feel like should have had the same tune or similar to “For a Moment”. I was searching really hard for it because the song was used when Wonka and Noodle had a strong friendship. “Sorry Noodle” parallels that sentiment as Wonka feels he’s let Noodle down and prepares to leave town. I don’t have an ear for music like our Father, Lord, and Savior of all things music, Youtube’s Sideways, but I do know I was left unsatisfied at once again another underutilized opportunity to tie in music that had already been established (what does the music in this film have against leitmotifs?).

Songs we never got but should have:

1. A “Noodle’s Lament” — we could have benefitted from having a song about Noodle’s character whether it be the way she feels about her treatment at Scrubbit’s, missing her mother (which she does discuss with Wonka). That being said, she felt like a disposable character by the end of the film, which is why we never got a song like this from her.
2. “Mother’s Lullaby” — in the flashback scene with a younger Wonka and his mother there could have been a good moment to throw in a little nod to Wonka’s first son, the opening number to the movie. I think it would have been fitting for his mother to allude to the line “hatful of dreams”, tying in the meaningfulness of the lyrics in the song we’re introduced to Wonka in. I’m a believer of storytelling leaving nothing to randomness and everything having a purpose, even a simple lyric.

Conclusion

Some of the songs slap, but most don’t. I feel like even twenty more minutes of the film could have given us a little more to the musical numbers of the film. It might not all have been Timothee Chalamet’s fault for the way he portrayed Wonka, but the entire film makes me think it could have done with a bit more polishing and intentional tying into the story. Despite my ranting of the casting and short or underdeveloped musical numbers, I feel like the movie is just satiating enough to return back for more, but just not enough to prove it’s an actual musical instead of a movie with music in it. And to me, that’s not satisfying.

If you want more information on how musicals are done right with proper songs/numbers, I’d highly recommend checking out Sideways on Youtube because he is phenomenal at explaining what it really is that makes musicals successful.