Director: Paul King

Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Paterson Joseph, Mathew Baynton, Matt Lucas, Keegan-Michael Key, Jim Carter, Rakhee Thakrar, Rich Fulcher, Natasha Rothwell

This Paul ‘Paddington’ King-helmed prequel to the 1971 Gene Wilder-starring ‘Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ has its moments but suffers from an undercooked, overly sugared narrative and lack of momentum.

A rousing opening has Wonka (Chalamet) sailing into port in an unspecified European town singing a catchy song penned by Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy, one of seven tunes the artist has provided.

Inventor and chocolatier Wonka has plans to set up his own shop in the prestigious Galleries Gourmet shopping square, but must contend with the town’s chocolate cartel fronted by snobby shop owners Slugworth (Joseph), Fickelgruber (Baynton) and Prodnose (Lucas). Shortly after his first encounter with the trio where they sample his levitating chocolate eggs, Wonka lands himself in indentured servitude with local launderette owner and conwoman Mrs Scrubbit (Colman). He is put to work in the basement laundry alongside ex-accountant Abacus Crunch (Carter), Rosie the Riveter-style plumber Piper Benz (Rothwell) telephonist Lottie Bell (Thakrar), tragic comedian Larry Chucklesworth (Fulcher) and teen orphan girl Noodle (Lane).

In one of the film’s best sequences Wonka and his fellow workers sneak out for a guerrilla raid on the town, selling chocolates, then moving on before the authorities can catch them. The police are headed by the increasingly corpulent chief (Key) who the cartel trio are keeping (ahem) sweet with chocolate bribes.

The surreal whimsy which worked so well for King set against a contemporary London feels more generic in this Ruritanian-style storybook setting, and Dahl’s spikiness and sense of mischief have been severely curtailed which may render this a little too saccharine for grown-ups and less starry-eyed kids. There are still amusingly moments of random silliness, such as when Simon Farnaby’s lovelorn zoo guard makes an overture to an old flame – Farnaby, who co-wrote the script with King is one of a few ‘Ghosts’ regulars who crop up. King’s trademark hand-hewn contraptions also make an appearance, most notably an ingenious dog-powered laundry machine.

Chalamet is committed, appealingly oddball and in possession of a good voice, but lacks the mercurial, borderline sinister quality of Wilder’s Wonka. Grant’s performance as the louche Oompa-Loompa who nips in to steal Willy’s chocolate is an undoubted highlight, but with fifteen minutes of screen time this is pretty much an extended cameo.

Wonka is released 8th December

David Willoughby

Follow David on Twitter @DWill_Crackfilm