Wonka Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Wonka Blu-ray Movie Review

Chocoholics Anonymous.

Paul King's 2023 musical fantasy Wonka may owe more to the director's own Paddington and its even better sequel than the work of Roald Dahl, but that's not necessarily a complaint. This visually-minded production beat expectations back in December by actually selling tickets and earning decent reviews and, although I can't say that it holds up to intense scrutiny (especially in the casting department), it's satisfying enough to appease children of all ages.

Much like other recent titles, Warner Bros. is stubbornly offering Wonka in separate standard 4K and Blu-ray editions, though a now-elusive Steelbook variant from Wal-Mart (review coming very soon) is advertised as a combo pack. All provide proportionately great A/V presentations and a few lightweight but well-rounded bonus features.

Wonka Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As I've done previously, please refer to my recent review of Warner Bros.' 4K edition of Wonka for a cursory overview of the film's general appearance and maybe even a few biased opinions of what I liked (or perhaps didn't like) about its very particular visual aesthetic. With that out of the way, consider the Blu-ray's 1080p/SDR transfer a largely satisfying substitute for this often visually challenging production, one that features plenty of gloomy interiors as well as bright and candy-colored flights of fancy. As such, fine details and textures are upheld generally nicely, shadows likewise run decently deep with only occasional glimpses of black crush, while colors are solidly saturated throughout. Please note that, as always, the lack of HDR does render some of Wonka's darkest moments a bit muddier on the whole, specifically because colors don't typically leap out from the shadows nearly as strongly, and the smaller amount of disc storage and less efficient AVC codec leaves room for occasional macro blocking and the like. But these are almost par for the course in Blu-ray world and, for the most part, are kept to a minimum when possible. On small to medium-sized displays (say 60" or less), Wonka on Blu-ray should certainly get the job done with no major problems at all.

Wonka Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For my thoughts on Wonka's excellent Dolby Atmos mix, please see my separate review of the 4K edition.

Wonka Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release ships in a standard keepcase with colorful cover art identical to the UHD edition; a matching slipcover and Digital Copy code are also included. The included extras are all lightweight but fairly well-rounded; they're listed below, but full details for each one can be found in my recent review of the 4K edition.

• 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)

Wonka Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paul King's musical adventure Wonka is a more successful adventure than a musical, and fans of the director's earlier work (Paddington and its even better sequel) will enjoy the similarities in its visual construction as well as some of the familiar supporting characters. There's some obvious tightening that could've been done around the edges and its two heroic leads are miscast, in my opinion, but the fact that the end result still works decently well is enough to warrant a recommendation. While Warner Bros.' separate 4K release clearly outperforms this Blu-ray in the visual department, the identical Atmos audio mix and enjoyable supplements still make this a disc worth picking up.