The Timothee Chalamet Wonka Trailer Is The Dumbest Video You’ll Watch Today
With Dune: Part Two just around the corner, it’s fair to say that Timothee Chalamet is hotter in Hollywood than he ever has been before. This has helped open quite a few doors to the young actor, and he’s beginning to headline films of his very own. Unfortunately, one such film is the prequel Wonka, and if you should click the trailer below, we feel confident that it will be the dumbest thing you watch all day, or possibly all week.
One of the many reasons we hated the Wonka trailer is that it’s a prequel. Be honest: at any point when watching or rewatching the original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, did you want to know whether the title character had a meet-cute with the Oompa Loompas or whether he had to circumvent some insane candy cartel to start his business?
It looks like we may get a hint of mommy issues, but for the most part, Timothee Chalamet is playing a character very much like the one Gene Wilder played in the original film.
At a glance, it looks like this new film is hellbent on answering questions that nobody was really posing in the first place.
The second thing we hated about the Wonka trailer is that it looks like the film has two different tones that are competing with each other. For example, the scene with Hugh Grant’s Oompa Loompa where he explains how he can’t stop dancing once he starts makes it look like the movie is going for an ironic deconstruction of Wonka’s crazy world.
What’s the point of having a prequel if it doesn’t help us discover who a character used to be and how they became the character we know and love?
Meanwhile, multiple scenes involving the wonders of flying (via both candy and stolen balloons) make it seem like the movie wants to steer away from irony and into magical escapism.
While we’d like to be proven wrong when the film releases, the third thing we hate about the Wonka trailer is that it looks like the title character has not really changed at all over time. It looks like we may get a hint of mommy issues, but for the most part, Timothee Chalamet is playing a character very much like the one Gene Wilder played in the original film.
What’s the point of having a prequel if it doesn’t help us discover who a character used to be and how they became the character we know and love?
Fourth, and finally, while the Wonka trailer looks very colorful, we are very concerned that whatever charm the script and actors might bring to the table will be buried by a small mountain of special FX.
When legendary director Tim Burton tried to remake the original film, it was a failure: not only did Johnny Depp play Wonka as a wooden weirdo, but the film ended up being more about distracting CGI rather than practical effects or human charisma.
Be honest: at any point when watching or rewatching the original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, did you want to know whether the title character had a meet-cute with the Oompa Loompas or whether he had to circumvent some insane candy cartel to start his business?
Chalamet seems like he’s confusing schmoozy earnestness for charisma, and we’re afraid the talents of the rest of the cast will be buried by a new round of forgettable visual FX.
Despite our misgivings about the Wonka trailer, we’d be pleasantly surprised if the actual film ends up delivering a tight script and compelling characters.
At a glance, though, it seems to have taken all the wrong lessons about doing a prequel (like covering the bitter pill of an awful story with the peanut butter of CGI) from the Star Wars franchise. If that’s the case, we’d rather go on the freaky boat ride with Gene Wilder than have to sit through this new film.
