The Stream: More saccharine than the Willy Wonka you remember.

The Big Screen: Beautiful production design and dazzling effects.

The Final Bill: Wonka isn’t the Willy Wonka prequel you wanted, but it’s nice enough.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Paul King
Writers: Paul King and Simon Farnaby; story by Paul King based characters created by Roald Dahl
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Olivia Colman, Keegan-Michael Key, Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Grant
Genre: Family, Musical, Comedy
Rating: PG for some violence, mild language and thematic elements.
Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes
Production Companies: Warner Bros., Heyday Films, Village Roadshow Pictures
Platform: In theaters on December 15, 2023
Notable Trailers: The Color Purple, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Kung Fu Panda 4, Inside Out 2, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Here’s another one, Streamers! There are a few family films available to you for the holidays. Here you have a prequel of a sort to the Willy Wonka or Charlie & the Chocolate Factory movies. Actually, Wonka is more like a reimagining of the characters from those beloved previous iterations including the classic Roald Dahl book. Also, there’s lots more music.

Wonka tells the story of starry-eyed and ambitious chocolatier, Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet), as he attempts to open his magical chocolate shop at the Galleries Gourmet. Along the way, Wonka encounters many obstacles that attempt to thwart his chocolate shop aspirations and dampen his sunny disposition. Wonka has to contend with a nefarious landlord (Olivia Colman) that puts him into indentured servitude, a cabal of rival candy shop owners in the Galleries Gourmet, and he’s hunted by a wee “nemesis” played by Hugh Grant. This all occurs while they sing and dance. Paul King, who is responsible for the delightful Paddington movies, directs and co-wrote this version of Wonka. Fizzy-lifting hijinks ensue.

My main point of contention with Wonka is that Willy Wonka does not resemble anything like the character that we’ve come to know. There is no way this bright and idealistic Willy in Wonka becomes that darker, more sinister chocolatier of the earlier works. Paul King has set this movie firmly in the same sweet and endearing world as those candy-colored Paddington movies, which is fine; but it just isn’t Willy Wonka. The movie looks great. It has a cartoonish sensibility, which adds to the childlike wonder of it all. The sets are vibrant with color and the effects enhance the supposed magic that Wonka conjures. The children will eat it up and maybe there is a tune or two that you will hum along with. The movie has a nice energy that may be infectious to some and too sweet for others.

Ultimately, Wonka is a nice family movie with cheerful music and a sweet story, but it is not the prequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory you expected. That bait and switch is off-putting, but the movie is passably enjoyable nevertheless. Timothee Chalamet brings exuberance to the main role, and the movie is filled with dazzling spectacles from sets, costumes and effects. Children will get a kick out of it and adults won’t be too bored, so a matinee with a bowl of popcorn will hit the spot.