Wonka
I can't believe I get to exist at the same time as Wonka (2023).
I'm very biased in favor of this movie. I knew from the moment that I heard "the guy who did Paddington is doing a Willy Wonka movie" that it was gonna work for me. THEN they cast my husband Timothée Chalamet (no questions at this time please) and I was even MORE sure that it was gonna work for me. I'm someone who grew up on the original Willy Wonka movie ('71) and absolutely loved every second of it, so this film had a high bar. I sat down in an empty theater, ready to walk out with like a 4-star at best.
Then it started.
Then it kept getting better.
By the end, I knew we had something truly magical on our hands.
That's the best word I can use to describe this movie: magical. A truly magnificent and wonderful movie that balances the whimsy and silliness of the original film with the heart of the Paddington films flawlessly. A movie so filled to the brim was love and joy that I was literally shaking by the end, giggling like an insane person, wanting to watch it all over again. I grew up with the "magical family movies" of the late 90's-mid 00's like Matilda and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and this film captures that same essence, one that I had almost forgot until now, and one that I deeply missed. This movie scratched an itch I didn't know I had, and the fact it was a Wonka movie was just the cherry on top.
The performances are delightfully silly, the direction and production design add nothing but wonder and magic to the world, THE MUSICAL NUMBERS OH MAN THE MUSICAL NUMBERS. This film had me absolutely entranced in the world of Wonka's imagination in all its purity, to the point where I almost forgot I was still living in southern Oklahoma (don't recommend tbh)
An absolutely beautiful film, both on the surface level and one deeper, one that made me feel things I had forgotten about, one that made me violently cry 3 separate times (and I mean violent, like a shaking uncontrollably cry) and one that I will be coming back to over and over again. It won't work for everyone, and I'll admit that it's not an absolutely flawless masterpiece of a film, but this film spoke to me in a way that I've never been spoken to before. A movie that made me feel like I had grown up watching this movie all my life, even though it was my first time seeing it. A movie I am so unbelievably happy is real.
Truly a magical film. I'm so jealous of the kids who will grow up with this movie.