Overview: Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the jewel in the Roald Dahl crown 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.

This irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock‐full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time—proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. Entertainment is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated Wonka in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this February 27th, 2024.

For my money, this Wonka [4K UHD Blu-ray + Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is Wonka presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable. For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision, we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color, which makes the eyes draw in, for sure.

One of those moments now being what we shall call the A Good Chocolate scene, where the look on Wonka’s face when he says I hate what happens next, says both that he feels sorry for the other chocolatier’s and that he’s about to take a sort of delight at what’s about to happen to them. I love it!

Another scene now highlighted we shall call the Small Print scene, where, one assumes, he get’s the whole contract idea with the five ticket winners. I mean, this was such a funny parallel to the small print in the original, where there’s a giant contract and the small print writing just kept getting smaller and smaller!

As for the audio, well we get: English: Dolby Atmos English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit).

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the story to hand, well, it is a rather decent origin story about the character of Willy Wonka with good performances, beautiful production, musical tracks, and some good humor liberally spread throughout. Director Paul King, known for his works on Paddington 1 and 2, does a solid role in handling the setting and themes as they bond seamlessly with one another as the story unfolds.

The production, color presentations, and the sound designs are great with some good visuals effects and style. All the performances are pretty good as Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Hugh Grant and the rest of the cast members are all fun to observe; and Rowan Atkinson is always a blast to see!

The narrative is standard and King does try to provide some new interesting elements and style to the story and characters, which means we obviously get some concepts that worked and some that could have been better.

On the humor and singing, there are some good singing moments from the cast members and the humor was solid, although some humorous moments felt flat, for me. The character of Willy Wonka is fun to observe, for sure, but the other characters weren’t really that interesting, or had me emotionally engaged enough to connect with.

Ok, so whilst it is not amazing, the pacing is great and it keeps you intently watching along. I was still interested to see where the movie was heading and thus overall, Wonka may well not be King’s best movie, but it is most definitely highly entertaining with regard its colorful, fun visuals and is, without a shadow of a doubt, a good time to watch for those moments when the house needs to be absorbed within the glow of the small screen.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to go eat some delicious chocolate!

Special Features:
Unwrapping Paul King’s Vision (12:28)
The Whimsical Music of Wonka (6:01)
Welcome to Wonka Land (10:51)
Hats Off to Wonka (6:47)
Wonka’s Chocolatier (8:51)
Musical Moments (13 clips)