Wonka film, disappointing!

[cheeseisthebest]

Just been to see the new Wonka film. Interested in others views if anyone's seen it yet? I know it only came out today!

I was really disappointed with it. Songs were dreadful, Timothy Chalamet can't sing, the little girl was annoying. Hugh Grant was great but not in it enough.
Massive plot holes and stupid storyline.
I expected more cos I loved Mary Poppins returns and both Paddington films and think it's same director?

I also saw this thread before going. Warned the kids, aged 11 and 21 that it might be disappointing. WE LOVED IT!! Lots of toe tapping, laughter and tears at the end. I even mentioned going again and both were keen 😁

It's awful. Forgettable songs and bad jokes. The writer wrote the first Paddington which was really funny, and the second which was less so. He's run out of jokes. The Matt Lucas running joke is painful, as are both the Horrible Histories ones.

It's meant to be entertaining and fun but it isn't. It's cliched and boring. Unlike the original there's no imagination, nothing we haven't seen before, and the best song is the one from the original.

My dds (18 and 19) and I will be going to see it but are all very apprehensive or Timothee (or Our Timmy as we call him) in a comedy role. Now I discover that he is going to be singing too.
Our Timmy does brooding, pained expressions, angst and cheekbones. I’m not sure I approve of him smiling at all let alone singing and dancing.

We saw it yesterday.

We all throughly enjoyed it - we laughed, we cried, we joined in the round of applause at the end of the film. Timothee Chamalet is perfectly cast and carries the film along with an effortless effervesence to which Hugh Grant's Oompa Loompa is the perfect foil (would have loved for him to endure the indignities of CGI filming a little longer for his role to have been expanded). It has warmth, wit and charm in buckets.

Is it as good as Paddington? No. But Paddington is truly one of our favourite films of all time, and failure to quite match those dizzy heights doesn't mean it wasn't successful on its own terms. It is however very strongly in the mould of Paddington in style and tone. there's a hint of Paddington's guilelessness in Chalmalet's Wonka, and there are very direct echoes of Paddington throughout the plot - both protagonists arrive in an unfamilar city by ocean voyage following the loss of a loved one, and we follow the attempts of various opponents to thwart our heroes' goals of finding success.

As well as many nods to Paddington, the plot also borrows many familar themes from other Dahl stories: Wonka's three chocolatier nemeses call back to Boggis, Bunce and Bean in Fantastic Mr Fox (and in fact Wonka has more than a touch of the vulpine hero himself). Oliva Coleman's boarding house owner throwing Noodle into the pigeon coop echoes Miss Trunchbull putting Matilda into chokey (and Noodle - the brave girl who wants a home fit for a bookworm....you can see where I'm going with this). But Wonka is a lighter take on these adversaries - they lack the menace of a Boggis or a Trunchbull.

The fact the film's recipe lifts so much from other books and films is, depending on your point of view, part of its success or its failure - is it a playful homage to these much-loved classics, or is it derivative and lacking in originality?

To borrow an appropriate metaphor - Wonka has got the exterior dazzle of a Quality Street wrapper, with the comfort and familiarity of a chocolate caramel. I'd have liked a little more darkness and crunch, but it's nevertheless got all the ingredients of a classic.

Great review, @CroccyWoccy. Paddington 2 is a five star film, we thought this was more of a four. So still very worth watching - it's a thoroughly enjoyable film.

Couldn't have said it better @CroccyWoccy. I'm actually going to see it again next week with a friend who fancies it. Looking forward to it!

I could have got to the point faster if I'd just said what you said! Definitely a strong four stars but not quite a five.

Another thought I had about it, which probably sounds harsher than I intend, is that it feels a bit like someone asked ChatGPT to write a story about Willy Wonka in the style of Paddington. All the component parts are there, and there's an awful lot to enjoy (and I did!), but some how it didn't completely catch light.

I think my diagnosis is that there wasn't enough jeopardy. The 'bad guys' were all played as primarily comic roles, I think just a touch more light and shade would have brought it to life dramatically. I think it was Keegan-Michael Key's character as Chief of Police that was off - rathrer than the hapless buffoon (who did little than provide the basis of a rather laboured recurring joke) he should have been more villainous.

I think I've overthought this but I so wanted it to be brilliant it's been bugging me why it was only very good.

I enjoyed it. Was fun. Feel good movie

Me too, can't understand him ever being cast as a romantic lead, he looks about 12.

There’s no romance in Wonka.

He does look very young, it’s strange isn’t it. But he is an amazing actor. I think as he gets older he’ll grow into himself a bit. He still has that very slim, teenager look at 27! 😳

I'm glad I went into Wonka with low expectations.. I really enjoyed it, probably wouldn't have enjoyed it quite so much without Timothee Chalamet in the lead. I think he made a good Wonka, I did wonder though - do you think they tried to get him to put on a British accent and he found it too tricky so they decided he could stick being American? It kind of worked with Noodle also having the American accent..

It was just a good family fun film, reminded me a lot of Paddington (obviously) but not quite as good, maybe there was a little too much singing?

We loved it, great casting, beautiful visuals, enjoyed the running jokes, Timothee was excellent as the young Wonka, the storyline with his mother was touching. I've never seen the other films but read the book over and over as a child and it was great to see the three rival factory owners brought to life.

Has anyone taken a reception age child to see it? I was thinking of taking my 4 year old in the holidays.

I really enjoyed it and I’m normally hard to please.

Looking forward to seeing it. DC like Timothy Chumley

I liked it, DS7 seemed to, his friend however cried that it scared him and wanted to leave. Mixed reviews on this one eh!

It's quite long so I'd have reservations about a 4yo sitting through it.

My 5 year old loved it!

He's done Mario, Rise of Gru, Elemental and Wish but I guess this has an extra 15 minutes or so on those. He's pretty good at sitting and watching as he loves the cinema - it's more whether he's too young for the story/content.

Yes same here my 5yo watched the whole thing.

You might want to read this thread about the scandalous SEXUAL and HOMOEROTIC content

To think that Wonka was unnecessarily sexual for a kids film? | Mumsnet

(or you might just want to ignore it and take them anyway 😉)

Ha! Absolutely shocking, must avoid at all costs. 😉

I really liked it! The songs were quite tuneful though they washed over me because I didn't know them, I think they will be growers as they become more familiar. Loved Timothee Chalamet and Olivia Coleman best. The girl was meh, you could tell it was her first time acting. It was very, very colourful and I loved that about it most. I also love TC, he is just so very pretty 😜

I really liked it, thought Timothee Chamolot played the Wonka part perfectly and loved Hugh Grant as the Oompa Loompa. I always roll my eyes a bit when Matt Lucas appears in something though, don’t get the fuss at all and didn’t think he brought anything to the film.