The new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, “Wonka,” has come out and gives the backstory we didn’t know we needed.
Starring Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka, the film can be considered a prequel of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Many are familiar with the original book, written by Roald Dahl, which was published in 1964. A little boy whose family is poor and for his birthday gets a Wonka chocolate bar containing the golden ticket that he and four other lucky kids find. The ticket allows them entrance to Wonka’s chocolate factory, however only Charlie completes the tour without being greedy and in turn is gifted the chocolate factory.
Since the book was published there have been two movie renditions: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971), and a reboot entitled “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005). The first one starring Gene Wilder was the movie version of the book, but the second film starring Johnny Depp went more into Willy Wonka’s personal life while keeping the main story of Charlie throughout.
Now we have a whole new film that excludes Charlie from the picture, focusing completely on Wonka’s origin story. The film Wonka is a comedy/musical, and from the theatrics to the songs and the humor used it was amazing. Wonka’s backstory is not exactly what was expected but it was what really makes Willy Wonka, Wonka.
Timothée Chalamet’s performance also made his character come to life. Willy Wonka is more than just a silly, and often crazy, chocolatier; you get to learn so much more about his character in this film than before. Overall, I would definitely recommend watching, even if you’re not a fan of musicals, it truly is a great film about more than chocolate.
