...a peculiar and highly entertaining film.
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Tim Burton is without a doubt, my favorite director. He is the creative genius behind my favorite film of all time, "Tim Burton´s The Nightmare Before Christmas." His other films are other moments in time that I have cherished and I may be one of the few people on our grand planet that found "Mars Attacks!" to be wholly enjoyable. The collaboration of Burton and Johnny Depp is always good for something special and whether it be "The Corpse Bride," "Ed Wood," "Edward Scissorhands" or "Sleepy Hollow," the Burton and Depp films are among each of their finest pictures. From the moment I had heard that Burton intended to bring Stephen Sondheim´s musical "Sweeney Todd" to the world of live action cinema, I was hooked. The two threw a curve ball when it was learned that it would remain a musical and Depp would be singing the majority of his lines.
"Sweeney Todd" is a story meant for Tim Burton. The director has a special touch with the macabre and gothic tones. He showed an ability to deliver creepy period pictures with the wondrous "Sleepy Hollow." Burton is a director who can bring flawed and unusual characters to life. He is the master of darkness and has a penchant for tossing a little blood around the sets in an exaggerated, but entertaining manner. "Sweeney Todd" is a film with a sorrowful, vengeful and formerly caring individual who finds redemption for crimes against him and his family by slashing the throats of the innocents of London while hoping to one day slash the throat of the man who stole his wife and daughter from him. What better plot and character can you think of for Tim Burton to bring to life?
Without spilling any blood or revealing too many important plot lines, "Sweeney Todd" is about a barber who has some rather nice silver razors. While being young and in love, Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is torn away from his wife Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly) and daughter by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). He is thrown into imprisonment, but returns fifteen years later to right the wrongs done against him. However, he cannot find his wife and daughter, but finds Nellie Lovett (Helena Bohnam Carter) running a meat pie shop downstairs from where he had formerly worked as a barber. The young sailor (Jamie Campbell) who traveled with him to London discovers that Barker´s daughter Joanna (Jayne Wisener) is still alive, but under the forced care and watchful eyes of Turpin and Judge Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall). Under the alias Sweeney Todd, Barker shaves his way towards revenge.
Depp had never previously sung in any of his performances and while the actor had played guitar in a band, he never attempted to handle any vocals. If it weren´t for the fact his close friend Burton had not asked him to give singing a try in the film, Depp could have went his entire career without singing a lick. His participation in a musical was a question mark before the film opened, but Depp´s musical background fortunately allows the versatile actor to carry a tune and he provides another stellar performance as the main character of "Sweeny Todd." While I have definitely heard far better singing performances in films, Depp does not falter and holds his own to the songs of Sondheim. While the film won´t be launching the vocal career of Depp, it is further testament to how good a character actor Depp is and Sweeney Todd is just the latest in a long line of wonderful performances from the actor.
Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter are all quite good in their roles as well. Carter has established herself as Burton´s leading lady for good reason and her quirky appearance and demeanor serves meat pies rather handedly in the film. She is an actress that fits in perfectly in a Tim Burton film and she too shows an ability to sing a song as the leading lady in the film. Carter´s chemistry with Depp is apparent and helps empower "Sweeney Todd" through each song and each gory sequence. Her character has a motherly appeal that can be both disconcerting and comforting. Rickman again plays the bad guy and the veteran actor shows that the songs and subject matter of "Sweeney Todd" is something he can handle with ease and Rickman puts forth another great villainous performance.
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is a peculiar and highly entertaining film. The film crosses a number of genres and elements of horror, drama, romance, and of course, the musical are all intertwined into the film´s songs and meat pies. The songs of "Sweeney Todd" are good, with witty and clever lyrics and while this is not the most energetic musical I have witnessed, the humor found among the lyrics are clever enough to make each song enjoyable. A song performed by Sacha Baron Cohen in the early going of the film is perhaps the most upbeat song, but I never found myself losing focus or interest during the singing of each number. The songs are distributed evenly between some horrific moments, some sorrowful sequences and a few warm moments between various characters.
I am not the biggest fan of the musical. There are a few that I have enjoyed over the years, but I cannot think of a singular musical that I watch repeatedly besides "Tim Burton´s Nightmare Before Christmas." You could consider "White Christmas" a movie I watch routinely, but this is more of a holiday custom than it is due to loving a musical. There are certainly a few I enjoy, but musicals tend to feel overly slow and tedious. While I cannot consider "Sweeney Todd" to be a live-action equal to the story of Jack Skellington, the film is truly a creation of Tim Burton and therefore, a film I will watch more than once in future times. However, there are a few scenes that I felt dragged on a little long and some of this was due to the simple fact that "Sweeney Todd" is a musical. The scenes featuring Jayne Wisener and Jamie Campbell singing seemed dreadfully slow.
This is a unique and interesting film. Tim Burton has made his musical and his close personal friend and preferred leading man Johnny Depp again masters an unusual character and puts forth another solid performance. This time around, Depp sings and he does so convincingly in the film. The rest of the cast is pretty solid in this Tim Burton directed musical and any skepticism I had in Burton using Carter and Depp in a musical was quickly gone. The blood spill seemed a little over the top a few times, but this is a trademark of Tim Burton and I loved each slit throat and painful demise in the bake house. The film contains traits of horror films, thrillers and other genres, but at its root, "Sweeney Todd" is very much a musical. However, the touch of Tim Burton is very much apparent and this film is as quirky and unusual as any of his previous films and those, such as I, that enjoy the works of the director should be more than entertained by the latest collaboration between Burton and Depp.
Video:
Tim Burton loves darkness and most of his films are ultimately dark and brooding in tone. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is no exception and may be the director´s least colorful and darkest lit film to date. Aside from a dream sequence from the mind of Nellie Lovett and a flashback where Barker remembers the day his wife was taken from him, "Sweeney Todd" lacks bright and sunny visuals. London is known for fog and rain, but neither element is much on display in this film and there is quite simply darkness and depression in the visuals of this 1.85:1 anamorphic film. "Sweeney Todd" is a film that looks as dark and depressing as its subject matter, but for anybody familiar with other Burton films such as "Sleepy Hollow" or "Nightmare Before Christmas" should feel right at home while watching this film.
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