Like many people, I was very skeptical about Wonka.  The trailer, which tries too hard to appeal to younger and older audiences, had turned Willy Wonka into a guileless nerd who is singularly fixated on chocolate.  Yes, this movie is a prequel (of sorts), but I couldn’t see how the character ever becomes the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I suspect that won’t happen, as Timothy Chalamet’s Wonka is far removed from Gene Wilder’s version of the character.  Having grown up with the 1971 movie, no one could ever match Gene Wilder’s eccentric performance in my mind.  So it stands to reason that this movie wouldn’t even try to go there.  Instead,  Chalamet’s Wonka is nothing like Wilder’s Wonka.  (Sorry, but Depp’s version doesn’t exist to me.)  While this Wonka may look like his predecessor, his personality is the polar opposite. Instead of being bitter and isolated, he’s full of youthful optimism and naivete.  Like the movie that surrounds him, this Wonka is funny, clever and cares about others, and I was won over by the end of the opening musical number.  Like Wilder, Chalamet isn’t a song and dance man.  However, his talent makes up for his lack of a musical actor’s pedigree.  However, he has enough handsomeness and charm to spare, and he sells his seven (7) numbers well enough in my opinion.  (Chalamet’s performance is akin to Ryan Gosling’s in La La Land in this regard.)

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