The Laws go to the Movies... Again... Review of Wonka

Oh my gosh, my poor blog... Six months must be a new record for me, and NOT a good one. To say I have been busy is no excuse, but I can say I have been doing A LOT of writing (just not blogging). Two books published this year (The Neighbor reccomended for kids aged 7 to 12 years, and Murdle Notton's Guide to World Domination recommended for 16 plus, both available from Mythmart), a number of short stories and poetry, and I have been working on a fantasy novel (Paechra's Tale), teen fiction, and the sequel to The Neighbor. In between all of that there has been so much going on at my local library (wonderful author events, holiday activities, workshops, information sessions) with so much more instore for 2024. On the family front we now officially have a home full of teenagers, and have recently brought our number of cats back up to four. I am now Opa to a kitten of chaos, and have discovered how much fun that can be. With so many teens it is becoming tougher to discover something that the whole family is happy to do together. Luckily for us in the time between Chrimstmas and New Year our local cinema (shout out to the Cameo) is currenly showing the new Wonka film, the origin tale of the magically mad chocolatier... And so, without futher delay let us briefly examine this film from the point of view of two 40+ adults and, a 17, 16, and 13 year year old teen... The 17 and 13 year olds were the most difficult ones to convince to come along. Our 17 year old son is getting more and more picky about where and when he will hang out with us. And our 13 year old daughter bombarded us with warnings of child torture, waterboarding, and other horrors, we informing her that a film rated Parental Guidance would not leave her scarred. Our 16 year old has always been a fan of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) film. Thankfully Wonka is the prequel to this film, as we are not such big fans of the later remake with a certain Depp in the main role. It was great to see a fair few locals support the Cameo Cinema, unfortunately we did have a large and chaotic family sit in front of us which was a distraction, but that more affected my wife and kids. I was caught up in the magic happening on screen from the very first note... Did anyone else forget that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a musical? I had, but was quickly reminded as Wonka began, and I do not normally mind these types of films so went along with it easily. It great testiment to the tunes is that our 17 year old did not mind them either. The challenge for me with this film was distiguishing between what was imagined and what was Wonka-ed reality. Dreams became truths, and then trouble. As a writer I could follow the arc, character developing challenges, our hero helped from unlikely places, the ultimate decision, and then the final moment when the overarching arc is resolved... But even with this knowledge Wonka proved a joy to experience. It gladdens my childish sentiment that this new film has modernized the best of the original, fifty or so years on, giving us some wonderful excuses to skip down Memory Lane, mixing in a cast of new strange characters to keep every generation entertained. But, does this venture into pure escapism deserve the ultimate score? In my opinion the answer is YES... Five delicious chocolates out of five must be given to a film that has the whole family leave with smiles on their faces... Bravo Mr. Wonka, bravo...