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Calah Lane as Noodle and TIMOTHÉE Chalamet as Willy Wonka in ‘Wonka (Photo © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)

The joyous strains of “Pure Imagination” lead into an equally joyous celebration of life – and chocolate – in Warner Bros Pictures’ Wonka. Movie fans could have had a one-two Timothée Chalamet punch if Dune 2 hadn’t been pulled from the theatrical release calendar. But for now, Chalamaniacs will have to settle for seeing the ever-charming actor light up the screen in the prequel to 1971’s Willa Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.

Chalamet is no Gene Wilder, but then again, no one can fill Wilder’s shoes. Not even Johnny Depp came close in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Still, comparisons aside, Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) proved to be an excellent choice to play the overly optimistic chocolatier with huge dreams and an even bigger heart.

The film opens...

Gene Wilder delivered such a perfectly eccentric performance in 1971's beloved classic "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" that it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp tried to make Roald Dahl's world their own back in 2005 with mixed results and a much more zany, quirky take on the character went in a much different direction. 

When it comes to "Wonka," director Paul King, best known for the delightful "Paddington" movies, attempts to bring a dose of joy and kindness to the chocolatey world of Willy Wonka with an origin story that finds Hollywood's young heartthrob Timothée Chalamet taking on the role of the young chocolatier as he tries to carve out a name for himself in the candy industry in a European town dominated by a chocolate cartel. Run by three titans of the industry, Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and...

In his Paddington movies, Paul King folded animation and live action together into delightful all-ages adventures, selling a message of community and acceptance with spry wit and disarming sweetness, not to mention Ben Whishaw’s impeccable voice work, imbuing the gentle ursine protagonist with genuine heart. Depending on your appetite for sugary excess, you might embrace the director’s Wonka as more of the same. Or you might find the qualities that distinguished his previous hits get steamrolled here by strained whimsy, an aggressive charm that wears you down rather than lifts you up.

Mercifully, we’re a long way from the garish nightmare of Tim Burton’s 2005 film of the Roald Dahl novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Timothée Chalamet as the young Willy Wonka is nothing like Johnny Depp’s creepy take on the role. But Chalamet has two settings here — he’s either beaming with almost manic exuberance,...