The new Wonka trailer is something of a class war
Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet, Hugh Grant, and Keegan-Michael Key, premieres December 15
What makes Willy Wonka such a maverick? It’s not his inventive confections, nor his inventive wardrobe, nor his inventive methods of torturing naughty children. No, what really sets Mr. Wonka apart is his willingness to sell chocolate at reasonable prices affordable to the working class. At least, so goes the lore in the latest trailer for Wonka, the Timothée Chalamet-led origin story premiering in theaters December 15.
Chalamet’s young Wonka is up against the chocolate cartel (yes, that’s actually how this movie is referring to his competition), a group of posh pricks who literally gag at the word “poor.” This is a story about following your dreams, and also about how capitalist market forces will attempt to crush you through possibly violent means, with the assistance of the state, should you endeavor to undercut its prices. See: Keegan-Michael Key’s comical policeman sticking Wonka’s face under icy water and giving him a “bonk on the head” to threaten him out of selling chocolate in this town.
But Wonka will not be deterred. He’s a dreamer, an inventor, a chocolatier, and “something of a magician.” His Oompa Loompa friend (Hugh Grant), meanwhile, is “something of a whopper” (in other words, he’s tall by Oompa Loompa standards). Other Oompa Loompa’s call him Lofty, but maybe they should call him Lush, because his deal is that he likes to cart around a fully stocked liquor cabinet that he can sleep in, and threatens to poke Willy “quite viciously” with a cocktail stick. Poor Wonka, besieged on all sides!
Wonka, directed by Paddington’s Paul King, is a movie musical, though once again we don’t hear any singing in the trailer (except Grant’s take on the classic Oompa Loompa tune). King previously gushed about Chalamet’s “beautiful singing voice” and compared his performance to Bing Crosby. We can’t yet assess the accuracy of that observation for ourselves since we still haven’t heard Chalamet’s vocals, but there is a bit of dancing and some dazzling set pieces to appreciate in the clip.