The newest film adaptation of the Willy Wonka series Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet who was nominated for best performance by a male actor in a motion picture for this film. Wonka has made over 400 million dollars at the box office since its release date on December 15, 2023. The Wonka movie is described as a fantasy musical that pulls at your heartstrings. The film shows the journey of Wonka’s determination and endless kindness in pursuing his dream.
“The message of Wonka is to never give up on your dreams and it is meant sincerely and heartfelt,” said star Timothee Chalamet to Fandango.
Wonka arrives in Europe to establish his chocolate factory at the Galeries Gourmet. He immediately burns through the money he brought with him on his travels. Since he burned through his savings, he had no money to buy a place to stay for the night. As Wonka sets up camp for the night on a cold bench, he is met by a man named The Bleacher. He tells Wonka it is far too cold to stay outside and he has somewhere for Wonka to sleep for the night. The Bleacher leads Wonka to Mrs. Scrubbitt’s laundry business where she also has guest rooms for people to sleep for free for a night, and you pay the money back the next day. Mrs. Scrubitt gives Wonka a long contract to sign before staying in the room. An orphan named Noodle tries to sneakily tell Wonka to “read the fine print.” Wonka acknowledges her but signs the contract anyway. The bleacher could see that Wonka was vulnerable and took advantage of his helplessness. He could see this would be a helpful opportunity for him and Mrs. Scrubitt.
After Wonka spends his night at Mrs.Scrubitts, he heads to the Galeries Gourmet ready to finally put his chocolates out into the world and pay off his night at Mrs. Scrubitts. Wonka introduced his first chocolate to the public, they are called “Hoverchocs.” The three biggest names in chocolate-making who are Arthur Slugworth, Felix Fickelgruber, and Gerald Prodnose noticed Wonka’s chocolate and immediately saw him as a threat. They called the police to confiscate and shut down Wonka. The three men were bothered when someone was better than them. They had felt a sense of jealousy and knew they had an overall power as a team to get rid of Wonka.
Since Wonka got his earnings confiscated, he had to go back to Mrs. Scrubitts and tell her the bad news. When he went back to her he was presented with a long list of fees he had no idea about because he did not read the full contract and the fine print. He had a total of ten thousand dollars to pay in debt. After he said he was unable to pay this amount of money he was held hostage and forced to work in this laundry business to pay off his debt. He was accompanied by Mrs. Scrubitt’s previous captives Abacus Crunch, Piper Benz, Larry Chucklesworth, Lottie Bell, and Noodle. Wonka immediately realized he was not going to let this stop his dream and figured out a way around his captivity. He made a contraption using a dog to power a laundry machine so none of the captives have to work, including Wonka. Wonka escapes by riding the laundry shoot down to the laundry wagon Noodle takes to the outside world. I feel like this part of the movie perfectly demonstrates the main message of this film that you should never give up on a dream. Wonka has already faced many obstacles but after being held captive that was almost the end for Wonka Chocolate. He was so driven to accomplish his goal that he figured out a way out.
Wonka explains to Noodle that his passion for creating chocolate stems from his mother. because his mother would make the most delectable chocolates for Wonka. Wonka wanted to be like his mother but instead of just him being the only one to enjoy these chocolates, he wanted the rest of the world to experience these tasty treats. After Wonka makes his first escape, he realizes that his chocolates are missing. He tells Noodle about a small orange man with green hair who has been stealing his chocolates at night for years. Noodle tells him that the small orange man isn’t real and that Wonka has been eating his chocolate. Trying to find a solution to Wonka not having chocolate to sell for the day, Wonka decides he and Noodle need to travel to the local zoo to milk a giraffe for an ingredient. Once they return, Wonka explains his idea of escaping to sell the chocolate to the other captives. Piper Benz gives the idea of using storm drains to escape once the police find Wonka. After days of using this plan to pay off their debts, Wonka escapes through a storm drain but leaves a piece of fabric behind. The policemen now know Wonka’s escape plan and are ready to catch him. I feel like this was one of the best parts of the movie. Seeing all of these people come together as a team for the first time sets the scene for the rest of the film. They all worked together to make this elaborate plan come to life.
Wonka goes to sleep that night awaiting a little orange man’s arrival by having a machine set up to catch him. Wonka ends up catching him, he was an Oompa Loompa named Lofty. Lofty explains that he has been stealing these chocolates because years ago Wonka stole the remaining cocoa beans from Loompaland that were supposed to be watched by Lofty, but he fell asleep. Wonka stealing these beans caused Lofty to get kicked off the island. Wonka thought for years that he was being stolen from for no reason. After finding out the truth and feeling remorse for the Oompa Loompa. I feel like this shows an important idea that you should never assume before you know the truth.
The following day, the team surprised Wonka with his chocolate shop with the money made from all the previous sales. This shop was so important to Wonka and the team because now that they had a shop the chocolate makers and the policeman were unable to arrest him. This opened new doors for the Wonka team and they knew they had to act fast but without a shock, the chocolate makers found a way to destroy this amazing opportunity for Wonka. They sent the police to Mrs. Scrubbit to tell her that her “employees” had been sneaking out to sell chocolate and told her to find a way to sabotage Wonka. On the opening day of Wonka Shop, he had major success. As time went on a customer’s hair started growing and turning different colors, then it started happening to everyone. Wonka had realized he had been sabotaged with yeti sweat.
After the destruction and failure of the shop, the chocolate makers present Wonka with a deal that is impossible to pass up. They told Wonka if he left town and never sold chocolate again he would pay off all of his friends’ debts with Mrs. Scrubitt so they could live a free life. Wonka left town on a boat while being accompanied by Lofty. Lofty convinced him this wasn’t right and he needed to go back. When Wonka returns, everyone is released except for Noodle and that is exactly what he was expecting because he discovered that Noodle was Slugworth’s niece. Wonka frees Noodle with the help of the rest of the team. After freeing Noodle they create a plan to capture the incriminating book of all of the bad actions of the three chocolate makers. After using all of the personal skills of each team member, they were able to capture to book. Wonka and Noodle are confronted by the three men and told that Noodle’s mom thinks she is no longer alive. They attempt to drown Wonka and Noodle in chocolate but Lofty rescues them so he can get his last jar of chocolate from Wonka. Once they are rescued they give the book to the police who attempt to capture the three men but they eat a whole jar of “Hoverchocs”. Wonka made it so they won’t be able to come down. In the end, Noodle is reunited with her mother, Wonka pays off his debt with Lofty and hires Lofty to work with him at his upcoming factory, and Mrs. Scrubitt and Bleacher are arrested. The ending of this movie was so powerful and was written perfectly. Wonka took the deal knowing it wasn’t what he wanted but being selfless to let the rest of his friends live freely was powerful. When he returned they all came together and put their strengths together to help Wonka and finally make his chocolate public making all of the work pay off. I enjoyed this movie and definitely this its a must-watch. This movie shows so many different lessons that are important in life through a fun and bright film. Including never giving up on your dreams, friendship is the best gift and good things come to those who wait.
