Aquaman and the Chocolate Factory
The cinema highlights in December
Jason Momoa (l.) as DC hero Aquaman and Timothée Chalamet as chocolate visionary Willy Wonka.
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The backstory of a chocolate fan, the continuation of a hero’s journey and a world-famous fraud case: the cinema tips in December.
In December it will be action-packed to fairytale-like, scandalous to tragic. It starts with the fantasy film “Wonka”, in which Timothée Chalamet (27) takes on the role of the young and aspiring chocolate lover. Jason Momoa (44), who is embarking on his second solo adventure as a DC hero, slips into his swimming trunks Aquaman competes. “Girl You Know It’s True” retells the incredible scam surrounding the band Milli Vanilli. The wrestling drama “The Iron Claw” with Zac Efron (36) is also based on true events.
“Wonka,” December 7
How did Willy Wonka (Chalamet) actually become the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate manufacturer? “Wonka” tells the story of Roald Dahl’s book and shows that the title character’s dream of owning his own chocolate factory came to fruition at a young age. But the busy Wonka has to realize almost as early on that not everyone is well-disposed towards him in the highly competitive market. New obstacles are constantly being placed in his path – luckily he can count on the help of the Oompa Loompas, who will support him in removing said obstacles.
Assessment:
Whether the world really needs to know how the cranky Willy Wonka of children’s books achieved his chocolate empire remains to be seen. With Timothée Chalamet, not only a charismatic and currently extremely popular star was won for this task. Just seeing Hugh Grant (63) as a snippy and complaining Oompa Loompa could be worth the cinema ticket. However, there is also the risk of maximum external embarrassment…
“Aquaman: Lost Kingdom,” December 21
Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, 37) failed in his first attempt to defeat Aquaman (Momoa). But he is still obsessed with avenging his father’s death – and he will stop at nothing to finally bring down the hated Aquaman. This time, Black Manta is more powerful than ever: he has taken control of the mysterious Black Trident, capable of unleashing an ancient and sinister power. To defeat Black Manta, Aquaman turns to his captured brother Orm (Patrick Wilson, 50), the former king of Atlantis, and forms a dangerous alliance with him.
Assessment:
With films like “Black Adam” or “The Flash,” the DC Universe has been in a bit of a bind lately. Aquaman, of all people, is now not allowed to go swimming commercially, otherwise it could get really uncomfortable. But if it can even halfway match the success of its predecessor, it should land in safe waters – “Aquaman” brought over 1.1 billion US dollars into the box office.
“Girl You Know It’s True,” December 21st
For his next project, the successful music producer Frank Farian (Matthias Schweighöfer, 42) hires the dancers Rob Pilatus (Tijan Njie, 31) and Fab Morvan (Elan Ben Ali) and helps the two friends achieve a meteoric rise. Under the name Milli Vanilli, Rob and Fab storm the international charts, land three number 1 hits in the USA and enjoy the extravagant life in Hollywood. Only a small circle of people in the know knows their secret: the duo doesn’t sing themselves, but only moves their lips – to the voices of the real singers.
Assessment:
It seems surprising that no feature film has yet taken on the Hollywood fraud story about Milli Vanilli and Frank Farian. However, it was tried quite a while ago, but without success since 2007 – until now: With “Girl You Know It’s True” the scandal is now coming to the screen, the film by director Simon Verhoeven proves, at least visually, the highest level of faithfulness to the original.
“The Iron Claw,” December 21
“The Iron Claw tells the true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers as they make history in the highly competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, in the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers strive Immortality on sport’s grandest stage, which is larger than life.
Assessment:
Associations with successful films with similar themes – sporting ambitions versus private dramas – come naturally with “Iron Claw”. “The Fighter” for example, “Warrior” is another example. The big reference is of course Darren Aronofsky’s (54) “The Wrestler” with Mickey Rourke (71). In contrast to the 2008 film, “The Iron Claw” is based on a true story – and it is so tragic that it seems to have been written by Hollywood.