Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Well, three great movies in a row means I have to give up the fight. If I now have to call myself a fan of musicals, and my enjoyment of Dreamgirls, Hairspray, and now Sweeney Todd: The Demon of Fleet Street sort of forces my hand, I will do it proudly. Of course, Sweeney Todd is not exactly Chicago or Newsies so I feel much better giving a full recommendation to a musical helmed by Tim Burton, Add to that Johnny Depp and his sweet sweet escaped from an asylum style hair and it is difficult to find anything to complain about.

I have to say that my ticket was bought when I read that the story is about a man who seeks revenge on corrupt judge by killing his barbershop customers and having his neighbor cook the bodies in her meat pies. And, really, with that as the starting point would it have been even possible for someone other than Tim Burton to direct this story? When all is said and done, Sweeney Todd will probably go down as my favorite Burton movie. He was able to get the most out of the setting, the story, and the performances. Oh yeah and the blood. The blood was awesome.

And here we have the Johnny Depp performance of note for 2007. He may not have an operatic voice, but whatever shortcomings he has vocally do not deter from the power of the songs that he sings throughout the story. Plus the man specializes in making you sympathize with any character he inhabits. Being that Sweeney Todd is dropping bodies throughout the movie, Depp’s work is even more impressive than usual. His last few scenes were phenomenal. The crazed look that he had will he was realizing his vengeance and then the aftermath of his vengeance was sweet.

Helena Bonham Carter does the rest of the heavy lifting in Sweeney Todd. If there is another actress who looks better in disheveled period clothing playing a poor baker who turns to cooking humans to hide her neighbor’s murder victims, I’d like to see her. I think she may be this pale naturally and no make-up was necessary. She also had just the right about of wide-eyed devotion to Sweeney that made all of Mrs. Lovett's decisions seem at least plausible. And her fate was just crazy. Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen also pop up to sing a tune or two then meet their fate. And there is also a singing storyline between Depp’s daughter and her hopeful love interest which is the only part of the movie where my attention waned. There was nothing wrong with their performances but when they were onscreen, Depp and Carter were not. That’s bad math.

I wouldn't call Sweeney Todd a pleasant surprise but I definitely wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did. Then again, Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, throat slashing, meat pies, it was all there. And the final product was a thing of gory beauty. Hey, when is the next musical being released?

9 out of 10