Prequels- the best or worst addition to a series.

When a prequel is announced, no one ever knows if there will be a film worthy of watching. Unfortunately, a lot of creativity has been sucked out of Hollywood, and true original stories are rarely as publicized. Instead, series that have already seen a massive amount of fame and attention drag out their movies to the point that they only make movies for the money. Like seriously, why are there 10 Fast and the Furious movies? The thin demographic only consists of middle-aged dads who hate their wives and kids. Not a very

Sometimes, it reaches a point where the writers aren’t writing with a plot. They have no story; they just have tropes. For example, there is a car chase, big explosions, muscly dudes and hot babes in Fast and the Furious. And family is everything. The plotline of the series becomes so diluted and only serves to give the viewers what they expect to see. It never fails to bring in customers even though the quality of the film is not very good; the lack of previous creativity in the movies people have seen made them numb to the tropes.

Regrettably, the Wonka movie was made to make money. When many people saw the first trailers, they were disappointed in what appeared poorly written. People thought it was goofy and that Timothee Chalamet (Willy Wonka) would not do an outstanding job of representing the character of Wonka that people had grown to love. Many were also shocked to hear that this movie was a musical, which was not made clear in the first trailer.

But this movie is so good that it’s easy to ignore that it was unneeded and just created for the money from a renowned story. Unlike The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, in which an audience was looking for a deeper expansion of one of the most complex characters in the story, no one was asking about Wonka’s backstory. Why was this movie made? Who knows? But thank goodness it was.

Released Dec. 15, 2023, it was the perfect way to wrap up such a fantastic year of cinema. After the stark effects that COVID-19 had on cinema, 2023 proved that movies could be good again. And Wonka was no exception.

The budget was $125 million and was heavily utilized in the costuming, setting and special effects departments. All of the little details, such as the design of the chocolate, were very intricate, and it seemed every little thing was thought out perfectly. The amount of effort solely put into the set design and costume design paid off, making the movie much more visually appealing and fun to watch.

The musical score and choreography are perfect as well. The songs add to the story and don’t feel out of place in the film, making the whole movie feel more jolly and whimsical, like one would expect from the Willy Wonka film. The signs are dangerously catchy and will stay in one’s head for hours after they watch the movie.

Not only were the production aspects of the film spot on, but the acting performances from everyone were exemplary. Timothee Chalamet, for instance, has made his career in primarily dramatic films such as Call Me By Your Name, Dune, Beautiful Boy and Bones and All. Wonka was a new movie vibe to explore, a genre he had barely graced in Little Women. Despite this, he flourished in this role and could embody the spirit of Wonka in the original movies. His vocal performance was also shockingly good (not as shocking if you’ve listened to his statistics song).

This movie was a great segue into the new year and prepares people for the other notable movies coming out in 2024. It was one of the best movies from 2023 and was super fun to watch. The writing was silly, but it wasn’t in a weird, corny way; it was written with purpose. And the lines that caused outrage originally were not as cringe as many people thought they would be. It wasn’t the story that was asked for, but it was the story that was needed: fantastic movie, no complaints, 5/5.