Timothée Chalamet is charming and adorable, but this film is not the confection we were hoping for. Of course it’s hard to beat Gene Wilder’s edgier version of Roald Dahl’s classic. This prequel has its moments but it just doesn’t flow showing how Willy Wonka fought The Establishment to create his creamy creations. Director Paul King (Paddington and Paddington 2) and Writer Simon Barnaby (Paddington 2) adapted the screenplay from the origin story of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel.
As the story goes, Wonka’s talent is as an exceptionally creative, magical chocolatier wearing his scruffy, signature top hat. His destiny is his very own shop to make children happy. He only has a few coins to anxiously build his dream shop. But a number of obstacles get in the way. The first is the nefarious grifter, Scrubitt, (Olivia Colman with bad teeth). She runs the town’s laundry, which is really a sweatshop. She’s good at fleecing unsuspecting souls into indentured servitude, and that includes Wonka. The henchmen at her beck and call include the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) and Bleacher (Tom Davis).
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Davis plays his buffoonish miscreant with over-the-top slapstick while the Chief is a chocolate addict under the thumb of villains, chocolate factory owners led by Slugworth (Paterson Joseph). He is a sharply dressed meany who leads the two other namby pamby factory owners by the nose. They want no competition from Wonka who makes the most exceptionally delicious chocolate of all time.
Wonka’s befriends a young girl and fellow servant to Scrubitt, Noodle (Calah Lane). She apprises Wonka of the old lady’s tactics. Lane is a talented actress with a gentle persona. Lane’s friendship and truth telling is a good counterpoint to Chalamet’s over-the-top enthusiasm.They play off each other well.
The highlight of the film is Hugh Grant adding his comedic oomph to his characterization of an Oompa Loompa. Grant steals every scene he’s in with snide, snarky attitude. Credit goes to very effective use of special effects to make the gestures and body movement of his slight frame believably funny. Grants characterization reminds us of the classic comedic TV character Dorf, played by Tim Conway, but with Grant’s brand of style.
There are seven original songs composed by Neil Hannon with lyrics by King and Barnaby. But the most familiar tunes, “Pure Imagination” and “Ooompa Loompa” from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory are still the best. King picked Chalamet for this musical after seeing his song and dance videos from high school theater on You Tube. This is a first for Chalamet, but we found his voice thin and you can’t see if he can tap well because the camera rarely shows his feet. But his persona is bright and pleasant enough to sell the songs, even though we found the choreography and camera work a bit weak. Vivid colors and effects creating the candy shop are eye-catching. And it’s a magical scene watching so many beautiful balloons go floating up into the sky.
Chalamet is spunky, likable and supremely self-confident in a sweet film with a sincere never give up message. If you’re keeping score of the Wonkas, this one is better than Johnny Depp’s, but still short of Gene Wilder’s iconic Wonka portrayal. Chalamet is sincerely sweet and in terms of chocolate, this film is somewhat smooth, sort of dark, but satisfying with Grant’s tart Oompah-Loompa oomph.
Warner Bros. 1 hour 56 minutes. PG
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