WONKA (2023) (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)

[Philip De Parto]

The following review is reprinted with permission from

THE MT VOID
02/16/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 33, Whole Number 2315

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WONKA (2023)  (film review by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)

WONKA is a prequel to WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE
FACTORY (of which there was a 1971 film (with Gene Wilder) and a
2005 remake renamed CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (with Johnny
Depp).  This is a musical, but the beginning is also a spoof of the
musical genre.  It is also Dickensian with a dash of Victor Hugo.

The basic plot is that Wonka has recipes for chocolate but no venue
in which to sell them.  He also seems to know many of the strange
tricks performed by stage magicians, and somehow Wonka's chocolate
seems frequently to combine fresh chocolate with various
mechanisms.  He finds a hotel, but his hotel room turns out to be
part of a workhouse.  (As someone says, "The greedy beat the needy.  
It's the way of the world."  But he is also told, "Every good
thing in this world started with a dream."

Some of the music and the design of the Oompa-Loompas is re-used
from the Gene Wilder version of WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

Released theatrically 15 December 2023.  Rating: high +2 (-4 to
+4), or 8/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6166392/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wonka>