By Katia Khodr | Staff Writer
Wonka has received widespread praise for its exceptional box office performance, amassing a staggering worldwide revenue of just north of 500 million dollars within a remarkably short span of 37 days since its release, as of January 22. The movie’s ability to attract audiences and generate significant revenue in such a brief timeframe is a testament to the popularity it has received from moviegoers around the world, crediting the marketing strategies of Warner Bros. And according to Deadline, it was “a great start for a live-action feature musical at the box office, that genre nearly put to bed post-Covid by such bombs as West Side Story, Dear Evan Hansen, and In the Heights.” https://deadline.com/2023/12/box-office-wonka-1235669099/
In terms of the film’s standing, Wonka had a lot to live up to, being the third live-action adaptation of the infamous novel ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, by Roald Dahl. Many audiences are acquainted with the 1971 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Mel Stuart and the iconic 2005 adaptation by Tim Burton. The former is the first live-action adaptation of the story, and the latter revisits both the story and the 1971 adaptation, with Burton’s gothic twist. Because King’s Wonka is a spin-off, criticism of the film surfaced because of expectations built on these older, distinguished, and influential adaptations deemed classics in the world of Roald Dahl adaptations.
To add fuel to the colorful and bubbly fire that was Wonka, musical audiences and children may have been the only ones who enjoyed the surprise as the distributors of the film, Warner Bros. and Warner Bros. Pictures avoided advertising it as a musical. The released trailers of the film did not appear, or even hint, at the characters of Wonka breaking into song at any given moment in the film. And to the audience’s surprise, the film begins with a very highly choreographed and auto-tuned performance by Wonka himself, Timothee Chalamet. Given that the last memorable and well-reviewed musical was almost a decade ago, The Greatest Showman (2017) starring Hugh Jackman, production companies have been hesitant to market musicals as, well, musicals, to avoid disadvantageing the film’s performance before its release. Unfortunately, in the case of Wonka, the film received 66% on Metacritic, while maintaining a generally above-average rating on IMBd, 7.3/10, and on Rotten Tomatoes, 82%.
Nina Gold, the casting director of Wonka, should have come to terms with the unfortunate fact that casting world acclaimed actors does not result in a world acclaimed film. While the choice of casting Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa was rather odd, considering his past roles in swoon worthy romantic comedies, his performance was one of the only sources of humor that managed to land, other than Keegan-Michael Key of course. Rowan Atkinson was given the role of a mediocre, one dimensional, corrupt priest, a role which goes in complete juxtaposition with Rowan’s legendary and infamous acting abilities. Olivia Colman, who has received numerous accolades throughout her extensive acting career, did not disappoint in her performance as Mrs. Scrubbit. However, her acting effort was, to an extent, wasted, as it mixed with the prosaic performances of the other characters in the film including the hostages and Wonka’s partner-in-crime, Noodle. The villains of the film, played by Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, and Mathew Baynton, too, were dull, both as characters and as actors, which inevitably made the film difficult to sink into. If the plot of the film is built on a weak foundation of shallow antagonists, the build up to the climax is both unsatisfactory and predictable.
The film is very evidently targeted for children who are used to half-baked storytelling, flat jokes, and unsatisfactory plot lines. The set design was theatrical to fit the style and cinematography of the film but felt artificial and flat, almost as if all the budget went to casting Timothee Chalamet and the CGI responsible for the only entertaining and attention grabbing scenes of the film. Considering this film was directed by the infamous Paul King, director of the successful Paddington films, one cannot help but wonder if all these directorial choices were intentional or just lazy. Either way, Wonka definitely will grow its distinctive audience as fans of older adaptations and exceptional musicals have other places to go.