Wonka is a 2023 British-American musical fantasy comedy film written and directed by Paul King, who wrote it with Simon Farnaby, and produced by David Heyman, Alexandra Derbyshire and Luke Kelly. It stars Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant. It’s a prequel to the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and its two film adaptions, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). It grossed $632.3 million over a $125 million budget, becoming the 8th-highest-grossing film of 2023. The following are 10 of the Rotten Tomatoes critical reviews for the film.
WONKA is a delicious and delightful confection from start to finish. Full of music, wonder, and questioning of the social order, it doesn’t preach so much that it forgets to entertain.
Full Review | Apr 24, 2024
Paul King delivers yet another whimsical and innocent family fun tale. Chalamet is also quite funny as the wacky chocolate maker.
Full Review | Mar 19, 2024
A sappy, unkempt and woefully incongruous origin story of Roald Dahl’s villainous chocolatier, Wonka’s strained sentimentality is fueled by empty calories.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 12, 2024
It had all the ingredients to be a truly eccentric and cloying disaster… and yet, it ended up becoming one of the most magical and wonderful films of 2023.
Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 11, 2024
Yes, Wonka is a prequel, and it’s also an origin story, and it’s fresh, imaginative, and fun.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 6, 2024
Wonka is a complete innocent, a really nice kid … and a bit of a dullard. There’s no method to his madness as seen in the ’71 flick — in fact, there’s no madness at all, and it’s difficult to see this guileless lad transform into Wilder’s warped genius.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 2, 2024
The film is ultimately a mixed bag thanks to its somewhat-simplistic & by-the-numbers storyline that doesn’t really have any compelling or surprising directions it can go.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 28, 2024
Irritatingly free of the “pure imagination” that it presumes to be its most sacred value.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 20, 2024
A tasteless and unfunny prequel that, like poisoned candy, never finds the appropriate rhythm to burn the calories of its supposed spectacle of music, chocolate and fantasy. [Full review in Spanish]
Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Feb 15, 2024
Wonka is an imperfect but kind of lovely little treat…
Full Review | Feb 13, 2024
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