What happened to the Oompa Loompers?

Rating: 7/10 (17 August 2006)

I went to see this film not expecting it to really live up to the original but I was somewhat surprised. The film definitely contains more scenes taken straight from the book, which is great to see as so many films adapted from books lose their brilliance. The visual effects were great and the chocolate factory was more outlandish than in the first film and appears much more like a child has imagined the entire design. The only major fault I found with this film were the Oopma Loompas, or Oompa Loompa. In the original film they are far superior, in this version I found them slightly creepy, or maybe that was the intention of the directors. The fact that they were all played by the same actor added to the creepiness for me. The Oompa Loompa's songs were also disappointing. Gone were the catchy tunes they had previous sung that stuck in your head for days on end, replaced instead by what can only be described as 'noise'. Overall I give this film a 7/10 as the acting was great and so was the story. I recommend it for children and adults alike, as long as you are prepared for the Oompa Loompa catastrophe.