Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Most of Tim Burton's movies are a lot of fun to watch and amazing to look at. However, a lot of the times the narratives tend to be less than compelling and even though they were amazing to look at, everything else fades from memory quite quickly. Notably exceptions being "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Ed Wood". Now comes, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" which is the most delicious work (pun intended) Burton has delivered in his twenty plus year as a director. To me "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" plays out like an evil version of one of those Disney animated musical from the early nineties. Those movies seemed to be composed of two young lovers from different worlds who have to go to impossible ends to be with each other, and the girl often has a overbearing yet loving father, and there is always a villain to make sure the girl and boy are kept apart. In this story the villain interferes with the girls life when she is a mere infant. As the movie opens "Sweeney Todd(played flawlessly by Johnny Depp), formerly Benjamin Barker is returning to London after fifteen years of exile after being brought up on a false charge. The audience quickly learns that Benjamin Barker had a wife named Lucy who he was madly in love with, but so was the unscrupulous Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who has Barker sent away so he can take the wife as his own. After many rejections by the woman, the Judge takes Mrs. Barker by force, driving her mad. And to make things even better for the family the Judge Turpin adopts Barker's daughter Johanna to raise as his own, and imprison her as she blossoms into womanhood with the intent of marrying her. Shortly after returning to London Todd returns to his home, which is above a shopped own by Helena Boham-Carter-Burton's Mrs. Lovett, who happens to sell the worst meat pies in London. Mrs. Lovett realizes right away that Sweeney Todd is really Benjamin Barker and takes an immediate liking to him. In the meantime Todd's imprisoned daughter, Johanna, spies a sailor (the same sailor who delivers Todd to London) and the two fall instantly in love. Now in most Disney animated movies the action is centered on the young lovers while the adults are put in the background. Most of the action here is on Sweeney Todd, a moping monster whose only purpose in life is to have revenge for the wrongs done to him. This movie is interesting in many ways, namely the relationship between Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett. It's obviously she will do anything to win his affection. However, he is indifferent to her unless she is able to help him get his revenge. There are several scenes in which Todd speaks to Mrs. Lovett as if she is just a distraction. Despite his bitter rage and nastiness Mrs. Lovett still dreams of moving to the sea and getting married to Mr. Todd. One of the best scenes in the movie is when it seems as if Todd is about to open up to Mrs. Lovett and then a clue about how to get his revenge on the judge comes his way, and she is instantly forgotten. Judge Turpin has to be the nastiest villain in all of Tim Burton's movies. And these are villains that include the Joker, the Penguin, blood thirsty Martians, and the boogie man. This guy not only destroys a family on the whim of his own lust, he intends to marry the daughter. The fact that the daughter falls for the young sailor puts her in a terrible situation. And there this is Mrs. Lovett. Here is a character with the morals of a half starved alley cat. She thinks murder is inexcusable unless it is justified (A character tries to bribe Sweeney Todd) or if it can be to her benefit (Using the bodies of victims to boost her pie selling business). Part of the greatness of her role is how nonchalantly she reacts to the murders of several people as long as she stands to gain by them. As great as the story is I can honestly stay Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter can both hold their own as singers. Alan Rickman, great actor, but not so much. The atmosphere of the sets also contribute to the melancholy feel of this movies. Tim Burton has made violent, bloody movies before but they always tended to have an upbeat tone. As I said, it reminded me if an evil Disney movie. After seeing "Beauty and the Beast" I left the theater humming the songs. After this one I walked out feeling like I just had attended a funeral. Still, this is an elegant movie and Burton's best work. Final note...the blu ray quality is very good, but not great.

I'm not even going to try to compare "Sweeney Todd", the movie and "Sweeney Todd" the play. Both are great, with their individual personalities. The play allows us to watch the action; the film makes us a part of the action. The photography often races through the dark streets of London, and we find ourselves trying to keep up with it. Then we're suddenly back in the story, in an almost voyeuristic way. We like Sweeney Todd because we can empathize with why he became the "Demom". We realize we are all capable of commiting bad things. Thankfully, most of us don't follow through. We know the difference between right and wrong. We know Mr. Todd has descended into madness, and it is his acceptance and understanding of his condition that make him respectable. Johnny Depp delivers yet another perfect performance as Sweeney. Helena Bohnam Carter is wonderful as Mrs. Lovett. She allows us to watch as she subtly shifts personality from a desperate woman guilty of making "the worst pies in London" to an obsessed, evil accomplice. They become business partners, and soon Mrs. Lovett is happily famous for making the best pies in London. Make no mistake, there is a lot of blood flying in all directions, and that may bother some people. Truthfully, I have seen more blood and gore in those "franchise" movies. Director Tim Burton mixes up a batch of bright red blood, and along with some great effects he drenches us with Sweeney's vengeance. The flim is beautifully shot in very muted color, which plays well against the artful grayness of old London. The supporting cast is outstanding, notably Alan Rickman as a lecherous, cruel man of power. The story unfolds, as it must, as a gothic opera, with a great soundtrack. (Don't buy the "highlights" CD; get the full soundtrack with an 80 page book of the full libretto). Perhaps Burton's best decision was to cast the leads with "non-singers". Johnny Depp is actually an excellent non-singer, his every word making its point. Helena Bonham Carter is definitely a true non-singer, and yet she manages to capture the desparation, obsession, fear, pathos and love her character demands. A lot of people don't like "musicals", but this film would have been mundane and most likely a flop, if the script was spoken. Why? Because it would have shoved us back to the balcony, only allowing us to watch rather than participate. There are some darkly hilarious scenes, and the lyrics are perhaps some of Sondheim's best. I especially thought "A Little Priest" was grotesquely funny. If you have not yet seen it, give it a try. It's a gem that was poorly treated by the Academy. Johnny Depp deserved that Oscar. His performance was stunning, reminding me that the last time I was so impressed was the year Meryl Streep won for "Sophie's Choice". One afterthought: you will probably never feel the same about using a razor when you shave.

No Spoilers Below: Let me start out by saying I believe I am a "cultured" individual but one genre I consistently avoid is musicals...I love horror, thrillers, action, comedies and heck, even a RomCom once in a while but musicals are consistently absent from any movie playlist I create. Enter this film that changes all that (to an extent; realistically). This film is probably disturbing to some as it does have a lot of blood, violence and is a darker film with a dystopian-esq feeling to it. Depp is absolutely amazing and Borat (Cohen) actually turns in a very good performance (I absolutely love the mindless humor he provides in Borat, Ali G, etc but it is not exactly Academy Award content). Helena turns in a great supporting role also and her and Depp meld well together, as they usually do in every Burton film. The songs were frequent but not bad and Depp was pretty good (better than I anticipated) and the musical portions added a little something extra and contributed to some of the dark drama. I think this brought things to another level and brought this above a gory sort of mystery thriller. The actors cast were very appropriate and my wife and I really enjoyed this film. I am still looking for the next "Sweeney Todd" to come into my life but have a hard time taking the jump to see if it is just another musical (which this is absolutely not). I don't recall this having too much profanity but it does have some content that could disturb some young and mature people alike. The story is great, the twist is awesome and I believe it is well done and deserved of a 5 star rating. If you are the type to despise musicals but love thrillers, horror or the ilk, give this a try and I believe it will make you feel extremely strongly, one way or the other.

Love this movie. Rented to watch with a friend.

Great sound and picture quality.

I had never heard of this musical before the movie was advertised. I wasn't familiar with the score, so I didn't miss any of the songs they cut. I knew the basic story from commercials, but I had no expectations going into this film. I like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter and that was my main motivation for seeing it. I was delighted at how well Depp can sing. He imbued his songs with real emotion and his voice is surprisingly rich. This was especially true during the ode to his razors, "My Friends." The look on his face as he cherishes them is scary as hell, and brought the character fully to life for me. This was my favorite song of the movie. Depp was also careful to enunciate clearly, so I had no problems understanding what he was singing most of the time. Unfortunately, the same is not true for Carter. Other reviewers have complained about how weak her voice was. I didn't notice that so much; her voice was okay, and I thought she played the part well. However, most of the time I couldn't tell what she was singing outside of the chorus. Since the songs convey a lot of the plot/storyline, this was a real problem. Luckily, she had a number of duets with Depp, and I could follow what he was singing and get the gist. Alan Rickman turned in a lovely performance as the sleazy "villain" Turpin, and his song with Depp, "Pretty Women," was well done. However, his role was necessarily small due to time constraints (I think) and I wish it could have been more. The boy who played Toby had an excellent voice, and his role added some lighter moments to a dark story. As to the lovebirds - they were unremarkable. They sang their songs fine, but I didn't really get much out of their characters. They were just there. I'm not sure if their characters had songs that were cut that would have fleshed them out more, but as it was I didn't care about them in the least. The story itself seemed a bit disjointed at times and this may be due to the missing songs. At a couple of points, I felt like it was just a series of songs strung together. No doubt this would be phenomenal on stage, and I would love to see Johnny Depp reprise the role live. He truly carried the film by the force of his character's charisma. At all times he was the focus that kept the story flowing. I can honestly say this was one of his best performances and I truly enjoyed the film because of it. The costumes, make-up and sets were all great. Burton gave the film an ethereal feel. London didn't look real, per se, it looked like I could be seeing this live on stage. The dirty streets and dark lighting captured the time period and gloomy atmosphere perfectly. And the R rating is more than deserved. This is not for children, or the squeamish. The gore was in your face - literally. Once Sweeney started murdering, the blood spatter practically hit the camera every time he slit a throat. And the music carries it out. "A Little Priest," when Lovett and Todd decide to bake up the bodies, is simultaneously macabre and funny as they debate who would make a tasty pie (the priest is too fat, the poet might be diseased...) As to this single disc edition, I was disappointed. There is only one extra on it. After watching the film, I realized that additional features would have made the experience better with insights into the adaptation, and possibly deleted scenes. I really regret not buying the two-disc special edition. Overall, Johnny Depp carried this movie almost completely. Any shortcomings it has are likely due to adapting a long musical to film. It is very well done, and I highly recommend it. UPDATE: I decided to give this version to my niece and buy the two-disc set. It was definitely worth it! The featurette on the "real" Sweeney Todd, and the legend was interesting and provided great background. However, I also highly recommend buying the DVD of the stage show, Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway) (Keepcase) , with Angela Lansbury - it was phenomenal.

This is one of the most perfect films I've ever seen. Unfortunate it had to compete with other great films this year like "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," but I think this is the far greater achievement. The fact that it's a musical may have thrown some audiences, but now on DVD, I hope people will have the chance to really appreciate and enjoy it. Here's a couple of things to consider as background to this film: Movie musicals died a long time ago when audiences tired of them. The height were Rodgers & Hammerstein extravaganzas like Oklahoma! (50th Anniversary Edition) and The King and I (50th Anniversary Edition) . Modern audiences thought the whole conceit of characters breaking into song to be just plain hokey. But some films tried a more sophisticated approach: High Society (1956) was a remake of the witty The Philadelphia Story (1940) with original songs written for the film by Cole Porter. It's a great movie because the songs were added in small, intimate ways, consistent with the dialogue. There are no giant dance or production numbers. Sophisticated leads Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Celeste Holm were allowed to easily slide from speaking to singing, the transitions were cool and realistic, and the music genuinely reflected the characters and situations. Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd has taken this approach and refined it further. Other reviewers have given you the story and detail, so I'll skip all that. But a real gift of this film has been Burton's ability, with Sondheim's approval and contribution, to change what was a stagebound spectacle into an intimate film with real, relatable characters. The music seems to slide in as a complement to the action and the visuals. Yeah, people start singing, but the entire drama is personal. There is great subtlety in the relationship of Todd and Mrs. Lovett, and this film focuses on that intimacy, while most musicals pull the viewer *out* of the drama. You see this in the way Burton shot the film: in the old days, songs and production numbers were shot to give an audience the feel of the same scene onstage - showy and unrealistic. More recently, directors unfamiliar with musicals used angles very at odds with the action. A good example is Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You . In this film, he often shot musical sequences with a different technique than the spoken scenes, but it comes across as out of synch. It's a hard thing to nail, shooting people singing. But Burton pulled it off, and brilliantly: in Sweeney Tood, songs are shot as though characters are simply having a discussion with each other. Really, everything about this film is perfect: the script, and shortened version of songs work ideally for film; the visuals, with Oscar-winning art direction by Dante Ferretti, are breathtaking; cinematography by Dariusz Wolski is quick, exciting, fresh; editing -- especially the hilarious "Worst Pies in London" -- by Chris Lebenzon is dazzling. The orchestrations are also something unprecedented: this is one of the most beautiful scores ever, but Burton and Sondheim went a step further, beefing up the orchestra from around 35 players in the stage version, to something like 70. The result is an incredible richness and depth, a sound that's so big and so effective, especially against the intimacy of the story and the voices. Orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and conductor Paul Gemignani have created one of the best musical soundtracks in the history of film. And then of course, is the cast. Edward Sanders is unbelievable as the boy Toby; he's the right age for the part, and his voice is clear and strong. He's got the right accent and look, and despite playing a tough street kid, his scenes of tenderness with Mrs. Lovett are heartbreaking and convincing. Burton is often portrayed as a gothic/artsy director, but I think people overlook his brilliance at drawing poignancy in the most unlikely places. His selection and direction of this great young actor remind us of that. Jamie Bower and Jane Wisener are ideal as the young lovers: Bower is literally wide-eyed with yearning and wonder, and Wisener is beautiful, innocent and lovely. Again, Burton sketches the story by selecting these exquisitely perfect unknown actors. And then you have Depp and Bonham Carter. These are two artists at the height of their powers and they are both extraordinary. Depp is an amazing actor, for all the reasons others enumerate here. He is so gifted: he shows us Todd's hard, vengeful crust for most of the story, but softens and nearly seduces Judge Turpin under the razor. Then, near the end, where he realizes what he's done to the beggar woman and who she is, his madness disappears for a flash, and Depp reveals the man Todd once was, his sudden, tragic realization of what he's done, and then, in a flash, it's gone. Few actors have his ability to show such a range of subtle colors and textures. Like the visuals of this film, the first impression is one of grayness and gloom, but on second and subsequent viewings, the amazing amount of detail and subtlety really reveal themselves. And finally, Bonham Carter. I think the play's hardcore stage fans have unfairly compared her to Lansbury and others. This is an entirely different performance. Bonham Carter finds the subtle, absurd, dry British humor in this character, as well as her very real and touching sadness. She plays it like a drawing room drama, not a music hall belter. And that is the truer and more realistic approach for the modern musical. Two other great actresses also tried this to different reaction: Audrey Hepburn sang in her own voice in Breakfast at Tiffany's (Special Aniversary Collector's Edition) and audiences were entranced with her lovely but imperfect sound. However, Hollywood would not allow her own voice for My Fair Lady , and she was dubbed over. Similarly, Ava Gardner sang her own songs in Show Boat but again she was dubbed. If you listen to the reissued soundtrack to Show Boat: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1951 Film) , you get the original outtakes sung by Ava Gardner, and you know what? They are far better, more authentic and richer than the dubbed versions. It was a mistake not to use Gardner or Hepburn's own voices, and those films seem dated because of it. In Sweeney Todd, Burton was wise enough to have all the actors use their own voices, and Bonham Carter's interpretation in particular is lovely and personal -- and like everything else about this film, appropriately perfect. I'm guessing that in DVD many more people will be struck by how great an achievement this film really is. At least, I hope they will be. Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd may be one of those films that did only moderate box office in original release, but will, upon future screenings, be recognized for the landmark achievement it is in the history of film. Every actor, every shot, every edit, nuance, costume and moment -- is perfection.

One uneventful Friday night while curled under a blanket I watched the musical on DVD entitled Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Not expecting much from a movie makes for no disappointments. I slipped the disc in with no certain hope. What a surprise when the final credits floated off the screen. I found myself left with the gruesome reality of what the hunger for vengeance can do to an innocent victim. Sweeney Todd, a barbaric barber who seeks to settle the score for the robbery of his perfect life, is masterfully played by Johnny Depp. His devilish companion, Mrs. Lovett, was played by Helena Bonham Carter. She selfishly keeps Todd blinded to everything but his need for reckoning. She does this by feeding Todd's ravenous anger with exposed necks for his barber's blades to devour. The blades themselves could have won an Oscar for best supporting actor. They were brought to life in the hands of Todd and the lighting of the movie. They glistened in a similar manner to that of an evil eye just before a malevolent plot unfolds. Todd and Lovett sing charming tunes in a gentle British accent while cutting the throats of whoever may wander their direction. Although it seems contradicting, it is a perfect melody of emotions which helps the viewer see past the gore and find the relevance of their corruption. As if this was not enough, the duo further defiles the clueless people traveling Fleet Street by secretly serving their victims up in a pie. Although Todd is sinister and brutal some may say it was not without cause. He had the life that anyone would wish for: a lovely wife, a beautiful baby girl, and a successful barber shop. Unfortunately his idyllic life was coveted and stolen by the dark-hearted judge played by Alan Rickman. The judge exiled Todd for fifteen years while he defiled his wife and claimed his daughter for himself. When Todd returns to London he is a changed man. He has returned angry and ready to make everyone pay for what he has lost. Tim Burton brought his masterful creative eye to this project as the film's director. Todd begins the movie on a ship headed for London. He sings, "There's a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it." Once he hits the shore you see Todd has arrived in that pit. The mood is perfectly captured in the use of hues and the angles chosen for the camera lens. Watching the smoke course from the chimney the viewers are left feeling cold and dirty. You can hear the dampness looming when the unaware city dwellers walk through the residue of rain resting on the cobble stone streets. The only use of vivid shades is when Lovett attempts to paint the possibility of a happy union between her and Todd. The contrast in color boldly communicates this future is impossible. If you can tolerate the bloody violence this is a worthwhile movie to see. Attempt to see beyond the animated slashing and ask yourself, "Who benefits from a life driven by revenge?" Retribution can serve a purpose and there are times when bad things happen to good people. The message is clear; don't be blinded by the need for reckoning or you may become the villain, driving away any chance for peace and you will lose sight of who you love most.