BONUS PREMIUM ISSUE: “Wonka” hits the cinematic sweet spot

Every ticket for this enchanting prequel is golden

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Wonka is an Everlasting Gobstopper of a film: endlessly surprising and thoroughly satisfying. More than an “origin story” of a beloved outsized character, it’s a cinematic confectionery shop that has on its delicious menu a candy that literally causes irresistible Broadway singing. For show tune fans, what’s not to like?

Hollywood’s new film, which recounts how Willy Wonka came to become the world’s greatest chocolatier, is a yummy experience for fans of great music and wondrous visuals. Now, the exposition drags at times; someone in Hollywood may have forgotten that with a Wonka film, chases, thrills, and escapes are less important than musical numbers. And the half-dozen or so original songs included here are enthralling, enchanting, and engrossing. The show could have used more of them – or just ended 15 minutes earlier.

Timothée Chalamet is utterly charming as a young Wonka. There’s a crackle in his v…