Wonka

A prequel to 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Wonka follows a young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) as he faces a series of challenges and stumbling blocks on the road to success. Filmmaker Paul King, armed with his and Simon Farnaby’s screenplay, delivers an erratic yet entertaining musical that benefits from its pervasively pleasant atmosphere and raft of agreeable performances, as, in terms of the latter, King elicits top-notch work from star Chalamet and such first-class periphery players as Keegan-Michael Key, Matt Lucas, and Olivia Colman – although there’s little doubt that Hugh Grant’s scene-stealing, all-too-limited turn as a temperamental Oompa-Loompa stands as an obvious highlight within the proceedings. It’s clear, however, that Wonka‘s overall success is impeded by a narrative that often seems to be overflowing with plot (ie there’s just so much going on here), while the palpably overlong running time ensures that the protracted, padded-out third act is hardly as satisfying or engaging as King has obviously intended – which does, in the end, cement the picture’s place as an affable-enough diversion that evaporates from one’s mind almost immediately.

**1/2 out of ****