‘Wonka’ review: Timothée Chalamet twinkles in a fun-filled festive treat

When Wonka is billed in its pre-title credits as a “Paul King confection”, it’s more than just tasty wordplay. King, director of the ridiculously charming Paddington films, has crafted an origin story for Roald Dahl’s eccentric chocolatier that’s as sweet, bright and glossy as a box of premium macarons. It’s impossible to imagine Wonka being released at any other time of year; in the weeks leading up to Christmas, we’re all a little more partial to sugar than usual.

Wonka is also very much a musical movie featuring seven original songs written by The Divine Comedy‘s Neil Hannon. Occasionally, they strain a little hard to match the ritzy grandeur of classics from Hollywood’s golden age, but they’re all melodically solid and lyrically nimble; one rhymes “chocolate” with “put a sock in it”, which is a job well done. We’re also treated to Hugh Grant’s rendition of ‘The Oompa Loompa Song’ from 1971’s Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, which this film is designed as a spiritual prequel to. Fortunately, Timothée Chalamet has enough impish charisma to step into Gene Wilder’s shoes and put his own twinkle-toed spin on the role.

In fact, Chalamet proves him a very decent song and dance man. He has a clear, unobtrusive vocal style and never goes in for Broadway-style showboating, which bodes well for his performance in an upcoming Bob Dylan biopic. His Willy Wonka – bold, bighearted and sometimes a bit befuddled – is fun to spend time with, which helps to smooth over the odd bump in the narrative.

It begins with Chalamet’s ambitious chocolatier arriving in an unnamed olde worlde city that seems to be a composite of various European capitals: most of the inhabitants have an English accent, but there are street signs in French, German and Spanish. On his first night in the big smoke, Wonka is tricked by Dickensian hostel owner Mrs Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and ends up doing drudge work in her washhouse (“Scrubbit” by name…). However, Colman’s hard-nosed hag isn’t the only obstacle in Wonka’s way. If he wants to fulfil his lifelong dream of opening a chocolate shop, he needs to outsmart a trio of corrupt cocoa moguls – Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Slugworth (Paterson Joseph) – who have the city’s Chief-Of-Police (Keegan-Michael Key) in their pocket.

Some of the plot twists are obvious, but Wonka has charm, heart and eye-popping visuals from start to finish. Only the dubious decision to encase one chocolate-gobbling baddie in a fat suit leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste. A scene-stealing Grant provides the comic highlights as Lofty, a supercilious Oompa Loompa with a grudge against Chalamet’s title character, while the film’s emotional beats come from Willy’s flowering friendship with book-loving orphan Noodle (Calah Lane). Wonka isn’t quite an immaculate confection, but it’s moreish enough to become a future festive favourite. You’ll want to tuck right in.

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