Children’s book author Roald Dahl remains a somewhat problematic literary figure 30-odd years after his death. An unabashed anti-Semite (he’d probably be friends with Jeremy Corbyn if he’d still be alive today) and, arguably, a racist, his stories, while being immensely popular, contain themes that are less than wholesome. That hasn’t seemed to stop people from buying his books though. Apparently more than 300 million of them have been sold with one new book being sold every 2.6 seconds. Hollywood, too, loves his stories, and a number of them have been turned into movies over the years including THE WITCHES (1990), THE BFG (1989 and again in 2016), MATILDA (1996), FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2009) and many others. His book “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory”, was turned into WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY for the 1971 movie starring Gene Wilder. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp teamed up in 2005 to sort of remake that film, which was called CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. While Wilder’s Wonka was and still is adored by millions, the consensus verdict on Depp’s Wonka was that it was a misfire with many feeling that the actor was channeling his inner Michael Jackson. I’ll admit I’ve never seen that film (I’ll have to get around to watching it one day) but even Wilder’s Wonka shares similar personality traits to how many of us think of the late King of Pop.

With Hollywood embracing old IP and creating backstories for popular cinematic villains and complicated characters like Maleficent and Cruella de Vil, it was inevitable that the execs would turn their attention to Willy Wonka. Now we have WONKA, which tells the story of the young chocolatier before he became the reclusive manufacturer of the world’s most wonderful and wonderous chocolate confections.

It’s sometime in the 1920s (judging by the cars and telephones) and a young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet, DUNE; LITTLE WOMEN) arrives in the big European city of… well, they don’t say but it sort of looks like a cross between Paris and Budapest with people speaking with various British accents or the odd American accent. Willy’s got 12 gold sovereigns to his name and a dream to be a famous chocolatier. Very quickly, he loses his money and he ends up at a boarding house run by Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman, EMPIRE OF LIGHT; THE LOST DAUGHTER) who, much like Madame Thénardier of “Les Misérables” fame, is no stranger to fleecing her clientele. Unable to pay his bill, Willy is dispatched down to the laundry in the boarding house’s basement where he meets other former boarders who also found themselves in similar financial straits. He befriends Noodle (Calah Lane), a young chambermaid, and together they sneak out of the laundry to the city center where Willy concocts some delicious chocolates. There, he meets his competition, Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph, TV’s PEEP SHOW), Prodnose (Matt Lucas, PADDINGTON; TV’s LITTLE BRITAIN) and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton, TV’s PEEP SHOW), and they use their influence and power over the chocolate-loving Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME) to shut Willy’s pop up operation down and confiscate his earnings. Back downstairs in the laundry, Willy’s new friends, which includes Slugworth’s former accountant, Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter, the DOWNTON ABBEY franchise), agree to work together to bring the chocolate triumvirate down and support Willy in his dream. Meanwhile, Willy tells Noodle that he keeps getting visited by a tiny man with an orange face and green hair who steals his confections when he’s not looking.

I’m not a fan of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder didn’t change my opinion of it one iota. Willy is a predator and I can make a fairly persuasive argument that he’s a psychopath too. The film itself is a complete head scratcher with its psychedelic graphics, chintzy sets and bad lighting. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if someone told me that Wilder was stoned during the production, and then there’s Grandpa (veteran actor Jack Albertson), being confined to a bed for 20 years along with his wife and their in-laws only to jump out and do a jig when Charlie finds the fifth gold ticket. It doesn’t say a lot for his character. Finally, there’s the ending when Willy tells Charlie that he didn’t win the contest because he drank the bubbly soda only to say “Psych!” (not literally, of course) and proceed to hug him. He’s a psychopathic predator, I say!

Thankfully, none of that creepiness is here in WONKA. Young Willy is simply a well-adjusted young man who has travelled around the world sourcing cocoa beans and milking giraffes to make the world s most delicious – and affordable, we learn – chocolate. There’s nothing untoward about his relationship with Noodle, there’s no cynicism in his speech and there’s no malevolence in his eyes. Throughout the film, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop but it never does. Writer-director Paul King (the PADDINGTON films) and co-writer Simon Farnaby (PADDINGTON 2) have left plenty of room for Willy’s character to evolve should there be a WONKA 2. Instead, King and Farnaby have given audiences a family classic in the vein of the PADDINGTON films. The songs by The Divine Comedy’s lead singer Neil Hannon are all toe tappers and it’s easy to see how this film will be adapted to the stage before too long.

Chalamet is very good here and he deftly carries the film on his twinky shoulders. There’s already plenty of Internet chatter about his singing ability but these complainers need to get lives. His singing is fine and so is his dancing. There’s no denying that the 27-year-old is talented and he has more than enough screen charisma to make up for any shortcomings with his singing voice. Fortunately, he’s got plenty of help as all the actors are wonderful here, especially Paterson Joseph, who chews up the scenery with his wide eyes and evil grin, and Hugh Grant (DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES), who plays Lofty, the Oompa-Loompa. The more Grant takes on these OTT characters, the funnier he is. Do I foresee an Oompa-Loompa spinoff film in the future?

WONKA opened yesterday in Hong Kong and it opens today around the world. If you’re looking for a great film for the whole family to watch together this holiday season, this is it. Like chocolate, it’s best when shared with others.

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