Nearly everything in Wonka is served up with an intoxicating effervescence.
The humor in the film is more wry than gut-busting, but Chris Butler has developed some truly inventive comic characters.
Jonas Åkerlund’s film gives viewers two well-worn assassin narratives for the price of one.
The film expects us to be compelled by an undercooked love story, and troubled by unexplained cosmic politics.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary characters feel as if they’ve been air-dropped into a universe where they don’t belong.
An era of the series has ended, but as always, Doctor Who continues moving right along.
Showrunner Steven Moffat caps off not one, but two story arcs which have run through the entire season.
Whatever happens next week, for the moment the Doctor appears to have lost everything.
The episode establishes an ominous atmosphere right from the start of the present-day framing sequence.
The episode is a successful standalone adventure which combines elements from two earlier stories.
Toby Whithouse has a knack of writing memorable one-on-one confrontations between the Doctor and his foes.
We’re once again left with the impression that the real story has only just begun.
Showrunner Steven Moffat’s plotting ingenuity is on full display throughout the episode.
Unfortunately, the episode takes a turn for the ludicrous as the explanation is revealed.
The episode sticks to the more straightforward storytelling style that’s characterized this season so far.
Despite its impressively designed environment, the episode’s logic is strained.
This season premiere episode leaves the impression of it being constructed from bits of other stories.
Some skillful writing diverts attention from the fact that this is a rather oddly structured episode.
The film doesn’t clear the CGI cobwebs or successfully anchor any of its new events with emotional heft.
A broad, crude mutilation of Emile Zola’s noirish romance Thérèse Raquin that prioritizes heavy petting over plot.