Wonka

‘Tis the season for a sweet treat and, whilst not anything to do with Christmas, Wonka hits quite a lot of the festive buttons: fun, light-hearted, colourful and one for all the family.

With much of the Paddington team behind this, it delivers that quintessentially English, quirky family film that its forebear (pun intended) achieved but sprinkled with a little bit of Cruella in its prequel backstory to a familiar character.

It doesn’t present the titular chocolatier as a villain though, and rubs maybe just a little too much mystery off of the character, but does still feel very much a Roald Dahl tale.

Wonka’s dream is to open a chocolate shop and he arrives in an alt-Paris (I think it’s meant to be Paris) to compete against the most famous chocolate makers of the time. From there, frolics, mishaps and big musical numbers ensue.

Yes, this is a full musical like the OG Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Taking a couple of the songs but throwing in some excellent originals, this could well be destined for a stage run itself in the future.

It’s cut through with a particularly English sense of humour and a brilliant ‘spot the famous person’ cast with a, hopefully intended, hat tip to Peep Show and yet another turn from Hugh Grant’s new comedy persona as an Oompa-Loompa.

It’s just an utter delight, against all the odds, much like the aforementioned Cruella. A brisk and breezy one-for-all-the-family movie to smack a smile on your face.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️