“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things our Internet-addicted age has suffered is a loss of wonder. We see so many wild and incredible things online that it’s hard for us to be impressed by anything. Unless it is simply a spectacle, we hardly look up. This is really too bad because the world is wonderful. I mean that literally. It is filled with things that are wonders of the first order. This is because it is created by a wonderful God. We are created in the image of this God and are wonderful ourselves. We are capable of wonders. But this is so easy to forget when we get caught in a rut of the mundane and cease to see even the wonder in the mundane. This can become a pretty hopeless situation, but sometimes a story comes along that reminds us to see the wonder in life once again. Let’s talk today about one of these stories that took the form of a movie released just before Christmas about the world’s most famous chocolate maker. Let’s talk about Wonka.

Let’s start here: It’s been a long time since I remember walking out of a theater having enjoyed a movie as much as I enjoyed Wonka. Before I say anything else about it, let me make my recommendation as fully and forcefully as I can: You want to go see this movie. Now, you should know going in that it is a musical. If you don’t like musicals, you’re probably not going to like it. If you have even a slightly soft spot in your heart for something with a bit more artistic flair than the usual sequel or prequel that is being released these days (because, let’s be honest, that’s about all we get anymore), this film will absolutely be worth your time.

Wonka is presented as a prequel to the 1971 classic, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder starring as the titular chocolate maker. It is basically the story of how he got started making chocolate in the first place. The short version is that he grew up poor with a single mother (because fathers continue to be viewed as unnecessary at best to the growth and development of happy, healthy, and well-adjusted children…that’s my one complaint about the film) who made him a chocolate bar on his birthday each year. When she died, he committed himself to learning everything he could about chocolate in order to discover the secret of her delicious chocolate.

His quest takes him around the world and into all kinds of fantastical places where he discovers all manner of magical ingredients to make the best, most wonderful chocolate the world has ever known. The movie opens with his returning to somewhere in England with plans to open a chocolate shop in order to introduce the world to what he has learned. Unfortunately, Wonka’s dreams are set on the slow track when he quickly loses all his money, gets taken advantage of and tricked into an indentured servitude by an unscrupulous landlady, and gets railroaded out of the business from the start by a trio of local chocolate makers who have formed a secret and wildly illicit chocolate cabal dedicated to locking out any competition.

The rest of the story is about how Wonka’s eternal optimism and charm, his kindness and ingenuity lead to a happy ending for everyone (except, of course, the villains). He makes fast friends out of the other residents of the lodging house who are also trapped by the pages and pages of fine print in the contract they signed to stay there. Wonka manages to automate their work so they can sneak out and begin the process of saving enough money to open his shop which will in turn generate enough income to pay their debts to the land lady. And, of course, everything really does work out in the end.

I can’t emphasize enough what a delight this film was. The acting was all terrific. The characters were quirky and fun. Even the supporting cast brought warmth and humor in every scene. The story had just a little bit of something for everyone. There was whimsy and drama and love and danger and action and intrigue. You always knew things were going to work out in the end because this was a prequel, but the twists and turns along the way were often genuinely unexpected. And the music was wonderful. The score was written by Paul King who absolutely outdid himself. The original songs were all a ton of fun, and he wove in so many whispers and echoes (which I guess weren’t really echoes given that this was a prequel, but you know what I mean) of the song “Pure Imagination” from the original Willy Wonka movie, which is perhaps the greatest movie song of all time.

In the end, while there were not any overt spiritual themes (minus a corrupt church run by a chocolate-obsessed Bishop – a wonderful Rowan Atkinson – and his staff of chocoholic priests who collaborated with the cabal to help hide their nefarious schemes), the film was a wonderful testament to the Gospel ethic of kindness and generosity. It set before audiences the supreme importance of relationships and especially friendship. It was an invitation into wonder; to imagine that the world is bigger than we think and more filled with delight than we hope.

No, we don’t have the kinds of fantastical treats that Wonka creates throughout the film, but we live in a world presided over by a God who is good and creative and kind, and who has filled it with all sorts of wonderful things that all serve as pointers to Him. When we commit ourselves to living in His kingdom, the world of His creation, the darkness and futility of the world controlled by sin really will give way to something entirely more satisfying than we have known before. We live in a world that is the product of God’s imagination and it is indeed filled with wonder. Wonka reminds us of just how wonderful the world can be. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for.