Wonka (2023)

I have a (I believe unfairly earned) reputation for being a crank, and cynically seeing the negative in everything watch. I want to share a review of project that was so wonderful because it asked me to drop my cynicism and enjoy something, and FEEL something special and amazing. I always say my highest compliment is calling something interesting. Those goes far beyond that for me. It is dramatic Nirvana for me. I was in tears by the end, and I loved the tears and appreciated the movie made me weep them.

This is good drama. This is EARNED drama. This is FAIR drama. This is drama that makes you feel something more than a project cynically killing off a bunch of characters to elicit a response of horror in the audience ever could. We feel Willy Wonka's triumphs and struggles, and we feel good when we cry because the movie got those tears from us honestly. No cheap stunts. Just pure moviemaking magic.

I stayed away from reviews of the film (I tend to skip both reviews and trailers to avoid spoilers) but the huge box office piqued my interest big time, especially considering how much movies in theaters are currently struggling. Whatever the reviews were, whatever the trailer I didn't watch said, the film clearly resonated with people, which told me to give it a chance.

And honestly I don't love the Charlie And The Chocolate Factory books. Most people remember the benign and wonderful Gene Wilder film, and indeed this film takes pains to suggest it's a prequel to THAT instead of the books, including callbacks of the Oompa Loompa Song and "Imagination". And that the right call. The books have very unpleasant undertones, that when you learn about Roald Dahl's personal problems and abusive behavior are kind of red flag.

In Wonka, Willy Wonka is an innocent playful man, with sunny optimism, always seeing the best in the people. Dahl's character seen in the first book and The Great Glass Elevator is a borderline sadistic sociopath, a genocidal slavedriver to the Oompa Loompas, who he treats cruelly and without regard to their mortal lives and safety. Deliberately and as sort of a playful joke. He hurts people on purpose all throughout the books because he thinks it's funny. Worst of all, he deliberately mutilates and harms children who don't measure up to his personal behavioral standards. Regardless of what one might think of the four bratty kids he tortured and disfigured, that is not a proportionate response to misbehavior at a candy factory.

The fact that Tim Burton saw the wonderful Gene Wilder film, and seemed to be deeply offended Wonka was not a pure monster, and had some plausible deniability in that and said, "Boy, kids are really missing out on the cruel sociopath from the book," is a keen insight into where the true sympathies of Burton's supposed deep alienation from bullies in society really comes from. Burton would like you to judge his personal awkwardness and outsider messaging by The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands. The man also made cruel films like Dark Shadows, Planet Of The Apes, (both awful) and Mars Attacks (actually good). He doesn't get to claim the mantle of the bullied awkward teenager while talking up the cruel, sadistic Willy Wonka.

Willy here is just amazing. He's trusting and wonderful, and I love that his arc involves Noodle teaching him to read. Forget all the crap I just said about the book. Whether I like it or not, kids LOVED reading it and it got them into the habit the way Harry Potter did for kids generations later. Making Noodle's mom a Librarian and Wonka's first "Imagination" callback a tribute to the wonders of libraries is the film paying the proper dues and respect to the books even if deciding not to follow their playbook. And it's wonderful.

I love Noodle. She is the perfect accomplice because she is skeptical and questions everything. A lesser film would have had Willy break his promise to her and the "dramatic tension" is him having to win back her trust. No, this film understands that isn't right for this character. The tension is the fact that he IS gonna do right by her and what it will cost him. For a kiddie movie with fat and fart jokes, that is a very mature storytelling decision, many adult projects are not kind or wise enough to hand their audiences. For most films drama is about a friend treating another like crap, and them forgiving them after a half-hearted apology and token, ultimately meaningless gesture. For Willy's promise to take care of Noodle, the drama involves sacrifice and how much Willy is willing to give up to give her a better life. And the answer is everything. And I LOVE Willy for that. If he had broken his promise and let her down I'd hate him. And I am still in tears by the end of the picture. Tell me why I should prefer the cliched fake spat followed by an "Everybody gets an apology trophy" moment. Explain to me how 99 out of a hundred films and TV shows do it the other way, and I am supposed to simply accept that storytelling as the price of doing business in genre. But a movie showing real friendship and sacrifice creates ACTUAL drama, and ACTUAL characters you care about (instead of hate). The answer is I don't accept it. I'm not with the rest of fandom and down with that crap. I complain every time. I wanted you to know this specific movie got a strong emotional reaction from me by deciding NOT to make me hate Willy Wonka the way I hate Wreck-It Ralph in the first film.

Here's an amazing thing I want you to think more about. I have opined elsewhere that fans are not automatically entitled to great films, and that that's an unreasonable expectation for ANY franchise. Great films are amazing, but it's all right if they are rare. A filmmaker not getting a beloved property entirely right is not unforgivable. It's normal. Even with me telling you that, I want to point out that there IS some truth in the idea that movies don't NEED to be as bad as they are, and have been all throughout history. This film understands something about Earned Drama and The Fabled "Good Hurt" I am always chasing, when both absorbing and writing fiction: It's not actually hard. It's not the end of the world or something only a truly great and sophisticated scribe can pull off. I pull it off multiple times in Gilda And Meek and you guys know me. I'm a total knob. If a hack like me can do that with zero effort or active planning, this means pop culture is making you feel bad about lousy characters and cheap deaths when they don't have to. Why? Because we accept it and don't demand better.

People accuse me all the time of seeing the absolute worst in a project. But maybe, my standards are actually quite low. Maybe the reality is these types of projects simply refuse to pass my bare minimum quality, and maybe as a writer I have the inside context to actually know it's easy and doesn't take a real level of talent or insight. Punishing the viewer / reader of fiction is a deliberate choice, one that doesn't make most projects better, and one that is actually entirely unneeded and comes from the writer's premise lacking any real drama, so false drama must be forced in its place. Me being angry about that is because I know we deserve better. YOU deserve better. Even if you don't think you do, my goal whenever I point out this type of dramatic failing, is not to change the creator's viewpoint (them messing up Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, is entirely their business, and I have no say in it). But I want to say that YOU don't have to tolerate it, or pretend to like being used, punished, and mistreated is okay because the rest of fandom has accepted it. I want to put it into your head, if you see something that bums you out and makes you uncomfortable and feel awful, you are allowed to be upset and criticize that instead of gushing that the entire cast and crew deserve to be swamped with Emmys and Oscars. They don't. They ARE however. Routinely. Which is the wrong feedback. I'm suggesting it's okay to give the RIGHT feedback if something makes you feel bad for gross and icky reasons.

The sadness and tears in this film are wonderful. And best of all, they are a problem to be work through and solved. Yes, through magic, but isn't that what storytelling actually is? A hero need not use a magical trope to earn themselves a measure of happiness and grace after the struggles they endure. That is a specific choice each story must make. My opinion is so many stories lean so heavily into violent and negative vibes that fiction has lost its appeal and enjoyability. And regardless of what critics will tell you. enjoying a movie, book, or TV show is not a sin or a crime. Wanting that is not a bad shameful thing, even if critics label those projects "guilty pleasures", while being ironically unaware that they are boosting guilty writing of an entirely different sort. We are not the bad guys. We did nothing wrong.

We can feel good things AND bad things without hating the characters or being able to come back from the struggles. I'm not saying those other types of stories don't have ANY value. I think they certainly did when they were either unusual, or simply NOT a part of every genre project. Now bumming the viewer out is expected, and shockingly tolerated. It's the second thing that especially angers me.

I love Wonka because it's a wonderful film that makes me feel good things, and sad, earned things where they are appropriate. It runs the gamut of true drama in the guise of a musical for kids. Did I mention the songs are all great? Weird that's the first time it's come up. But yes, the Soundtrack is definitely going on my Amazon Wishlist.

Thank you, Wonka, for allowing me to lose my cynicism for two hours and simply enjoy a film, for both happy and sad reasons. This is a rare gift I cherish, and I want to say this is the best movie I've seen in years because it delivers. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Fart jokes aside, the film truly does nothing wrong. There is not a false moment of joy or a dramatic beat that doesn't land. The film is not just a wonderful experience. The filmmaking is assured and acts like it being this wonderful is normalcy. And maybe if more people understood viewers are entitled to good things it would BE normal. The film doesn't just give me hope for that. The fact that audiences love it while most other big movies have been either bombing or making mediocre bank does. I would like to hope and believe that this film being SO financially successful might be a turning point for filmmakers understanding that while dark filmmaking has its place, it's probably a terrible idea for popcorn pictures. It should be rarity there, instead of every damn film. If more films took the sincerity and emotional honesty of Wonka to heart, both the film industry, and audiences in general, would be far better off. Again, expecting every movie to be great is not reasonable. Expecting to be able to ENJOY a popcorn film? Actually is. Learn the difference, absorb it, and demand it. You deserve so much more, and whether those films are good or bad going forward, I suggest a LOT more films would at least be more enjoyable and popular taking a page out of Wonka's book there. It could not actually hurt. 5 stars.