Wonka Not since 'Rise of Skywalker' has a film frustrated me to such a degree. Because it had so much potential that it doesn't deliver on.
This is 'Wonka', the origin story of Willy Wonka that the world didn't know it needed or indeed wanted.
It's also basically the team behind the 'Paddington' films regrouping and trying to make a film that's very similar in themes and tones. That big family film you can all sit around and watch at Christmas.
The problem is that while those things felt natural with that franchise, here it comes across as being false, almost done by a checklist.
Timothee Chalamet is good in the lead, but is he trying to be the young Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp, both of whome played the character prior. Is this a prequel to the Wilder film? How did this cheery chap suddenly become a recluse?
The film quite simply doesn't truly know what it wants to be, so ends up being a hodgepodge of lots of different bits and pieces. It's basically a selection box of chocolates, with no big thing to get your teeth stuck into.
It feels long. When you keep checking how much of the run time you have to go, it's not a good sign of your enjoyment.
Yes, you can get a bunch of well-known UK character actors, shove them in small roles and make it look like an all star cast, but none of the side characters are half as engaging as those in 'Paddington'.
People bang on about how great Hugh Grant is in this film, but he's barely in it, and even then feels like he's just doing what he did in 'Paddington 2' all over again.
Overall, this is a big sticky concoction, that never really delivers for me.