{"id":43110,"date":"2024-03-10T16:56:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T20:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=43110"},"modified":"2024-03-10T16:56:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T20:56:38","slug":"wonka-2023-4k-uhd-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/10\/wonka-2023-4k-uhd-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonka (2023) [4K UHD\/Digital]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Now Streaming on Digital<\/a> and Available on Physical Media<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What made the 1971 screen version of Willy Wonka so entertaining was that while he was an idealist, he was also a well-worn cynic who hated people as much as he loved them. While he made candy for people, he also understood how ravenous and cut throat they could be. He approached everyone entering his factory with a sense of caution and quiet observation. Even with Charlie he saw something special in the boy but was quick to write him off at a moment\u2019s notice. What\u2019s missing from Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s Wonka is that sense of misanthropy; that sense that deep down while he likes people, he understands how nasty that they can be.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl\u2019s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, “Wonka” tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.<\/p>\n

The once enigmatic, now protagonist, Willy Wonka is sucked of all of his menace and edge in \u201cWonka,\u201d transforming him in to what is essentially a basic reframing of \u201cPaddington.\u201d And Paul King is the right man to do it. Both characters are framed as far away travelers and idealists with an emphasis on their funny hat, both of whom want to see the best in people, come across some rotten characters seeking to exploit them, have a particular love for a gooey edible substance, and are eventually accepted by the masses. The only difference is that Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet lends Wonka a boyish innocence that makes him less of a mad genius who knows the essence of candy down to a science, and more a tragic orphan looking for a family.<\/p>\n

What happens after \u201cWonka\u201d and if he\u2019s ever given that view of the nastiness of humanity is never explored. But at least we get to end on two musical numbers that are direct callbacks to the original Gene Wilder masterpiece. It\u2019s a shame because the cast is great, Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet seems to at least be trying in this role where he seems to be working on Depp\u2019s Wonka aesthetic with a heavy emphases on Wilder\u2019s larger than life persona. The production design is also absolutely immaculate, with some fine sets and wonderful costumes. It just sadly lacks any soul or unpredictability to really live up to its 1971 predecessor. Silly as it sounds, Gene Wilder just had the recipe to a Wonka that no actor\u2019s been capable of replicating.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWonka\u201d is not a bad film, it\u2019s just not a very good one. It lacks the keen darkness and near Gaiman-esque danger of the 1971 original that is aspires to be like, and never quite musters up a decent original musical number out of the whole lot. I\u2019ll stick to the original article, despite King\u2019s best efforts. He\u2019s a great director, just not one who understands Willy Wonka.<\/p>\n

The 4K UHD one-disc release ships with a Digital Copy for streamers. The included bonus features beg for more emphasis on the movie, but this is as good as it gets, I imagine. Unwrapping Paul King’s Vision<\/strong> is a twelve minute interview with key cast and crew members — including producer David Heyman, actor Matt Lucas, producer Alexandra Derbyshire, actor Jim Carters and Keegan-Michael Key, director Paul King, Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, and co. discuss the development, which blends Roald Dahl’s source material with new ideas.<\/p>\n

The Whimsical Music of Wonka<\/strong> is a six minute talk with director Paul King and others, who speak about their collaboration with The Divine Comedy<\/em> songwriter Neil Hannon to create the film’s musical numbers. Welcome to Wonka Land <\/strong>is a ten minutes discussion with various cast and crew members who speak about their first introductions to Roald Dahl. Hats Off to Wonka <\/strong>is a six minutes segment praising the work of Welsh costume designer Lindy Hemming. Wonka’s Chocolatier<\/strong> is a nine minute talk with chocolatier Gabriella Cugno who talks about crafting some 2,000 fully edible confections for the production as well as demonstrating her culinary ability. Finally, Musical Moments <\/strong>features thirteen instantly accessible clips to the film’s key songs and performances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now Streaming on Digital and Available on Physical Media. What made the 1971 screen version of Willy Wonka so entertaining was that while he was an idealist, he was also a well-worn cynic who hated people as much as he loved them. While he made candy for people, he also understood how ravenous and cut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[64,71,219,340,349,580,700],"class_list":["post-43110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectors-den","category-movie-reviews","tag-adaptation","tag-adventure","tag-comedy","tag-family","tag-fantasy","tag-kids","tag-musical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43113,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43110\/revisions\/43113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}