A bloody good-looking tale of revenge...

Rating: 7/10 (13 September 2008)

...though certainly not for all tastes, Tim "Mars Attacks" Burton's adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical showcases yet another twisted performance (and singing, no less!) from Johnny "A Nightmare on Elm Street" Depp as the vengeful barber with a wicked set of razors. Depp's star power makes it small wonder that the woefully outnumbered female contingent on the IMDb liked this one even more than its stereotypically bloodthirsty male cohorts, with the exception of 45yo+ females who no doubt cringed at the graphic bloodletting and corpse-dumping.
Despite the complaints from many of his purist fans, Sondheim apparently approved of Burton's vision; I've never seen the stage production, and had no problem with the altering/dropping of various songs, any more than I did with the filmed versions of "Rent" or "Little Shop of Horrors." What works onstage doesn't always play as well on film.
Depp's performance is of a piece with his previous outings with Burton; one can hardly avoid being reminded of "Sleepy Hollow," "Edward Scissorhands," and even "Corpse Bride." That he sings decently is reward enough, but it's his acting that brings the character to life (and death). Helena Bonham "Frankenstein" Carter rises to the challenge of Mrs. Lovett, the lady who aids and abets culinary legerdemain, and does some commendable singing of her own. Alan "Die Hard" Rickman assays his typical effete villain with ease (and some delightfully credible singing), while Timothy "Gothic" Spall feeds audience bloodlust with an equally slimy turn. Sacha Baron "Borat" Cohen is hilarious as Todd's first victim. Newcomers Jayne Wisener and Jamie Campbell Bower don't fare as well as the subplot's young lovers; they sing quite beautifully, but Wisener's part is too one-dimensional and Bower is too androgynously fey to be believable. No matter; the show is still pretty much Depp and Carter's and they mostly shine, or at least as much as one can do so within the grimy shades of Dickensian London.
Needless to say, the style and vision is pure Burton, lovingly realized by the likes of Production Designer Dante "Gangs of New York" Ferretti, Art Director Gary "Children of Men" Freeman, and longtime Burton collaborator, Costumer Colleen "Ed Wood" Atwood. Dariusz "Dark City" Wolski's camera-work is evocative, eloquently limning Burton's dingy, squalid London while providing the necessary movement to keep things proceeding apace. Likewise, Burton stalwart Chris "Wolfen" Lebenzon's editing shaves scenes as tightly together as one of Todd's razors might.
The film is not without its flaws, though, one of the most prominent being Burton's insistence on showing us every last corpse hitting the killing floor of Mrs. Lovett's subterranean cookery. The welter of spurting arterial blood I could understand, but the continual crunching of victims onto stone like a sack of potatoes got old quick, and seemed like overkill. Your appetites may vary.
Still, a fine piece of work by Mr. Burton, etal., regardless of the limited appeal to general audiences. Recommended, though not for children, of course.