Music was weird, script not as witty as the first....

Rating: 5/10 (25 July 2005)

Am I the only one who thought the music really dragged the movie down? Especially the opening theme song. The Oompa Loompas were pretty creepy and the music was totally unfitting of the movie mood... which made it both cheesy and dark at the same time. They were either singing really bad "hip hop" or really seedy 70s glamrock or strangely, a combination of both. One scene in particular where they walk into the place where everything is made of candy, had some really horrible, bizarre sounding instrumentals in the background that didn't make you feel like you were strolling through a fantasy candyland, but rather a really bad haunted house for 5 year olds. Most of the songs you will easily forget after the movie is over, since you won't find any cool or catchy tunes. I am also a firm believer that the music makes the movie seem all the better (loved music from all the HP movies, for example, which had to work!).
I think the jokes, character development, music and script in the first movie was much better done, especially for the other kids in the movie. Everyone except for Charlie, Grandpa Joe and maybe Wonka, had little depth. The other kids were boring and not very realistic. Wonka could have been a little funnier, and he seemed like a combination of Edward Scissorhands and Michael Jackson. Pretty freaky.
The special effects were good, but not used to the full advantage. especially because the music was such a turn off.
I'm a fan of Roald Dahl and the first movie, so I think I had high expectations. I was also not happy about the change in the ending or the cut of one of the side stories. I wouldn't say this was a bad movie but a disappointing one.