It works quite well up until a rather grotesque and over-the-top third act

Rating: 6/10 (9 September 2010)

All of the movies by Tim Burton that I have seen have either been so quirky and bizarre that they were entertaining (or in the case of his 1994 masterpiece "Ed Wood," brilliant) or so quirky and bizarre that they were over-the-top and too unusual to sincerely enjoy. Here, he makes a film that is both. For up to two-thirds of its running time "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is a bizarre, humorous, and oddly delightful gem by Hollywood's most creative and innovatory auteur. And then the movie, which is based on a musical, takes a drastic swing into the really bizarre with an over-the-top third act that seems alien to the nature of the previous two acts, leaving me as a critic and reviewer feeling a little mixed about my reactions.
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp make a superb team and they prove that once again in this movie, for both are undeniably the right choice for their roles. Depp is Sweeney Todd, a seemingly lifeless barber seeking revenge on the judge (Alan Rickman) who prostituted his wife, kidnapped his daughter, and exiled him. Now Mr. Todd, brandishing his glimmering razors, with help from a Gothic baker (Helana Bonham-Carter) and a few others, makes plans to give Rickman a shave...
A really deep one.
What's most likable about the first two-thirds of the movie is that it seems to revive a genre that has been neglected by Hollywood: the musical. There are numerous surprisingly well-written and interesting songs. The filmmakers and cast have done a superb job at telling an entire story using mostly musical numbers. What's more, there is also a very interesting chemistry between Johnny Depp and the always enthralling Helena Bonham-Carter. In the midst of these songs, there are also some moments where Depp practices the shaving technique he plans to use on Rickman, in which he sticks the razor deep into his victim's neck and lets the unnervingly bright red blood spray in torrents.
Well, these work in their isolated moments. I liked the first hour and a half of the movie. But then, in the third act, when it deviated from this course and became really just a bizarre slasher flick with cannibalism mingled in, the movie started to distance itself from me as an audience member. I know that it is based on a musical play and that it is probably just being faithful to its source material. However, that is a clear indication that I probably would not enjoy the last third of the play, either.
I'm not going to spend too many words riffing on "Sweeney Todd" because I did not hate the movie; I just can't honestly recommend it because of how it loses its way toward the end. Before that, it is very interesting, beautifully-photographed, well-directed, has many good numbers, and solid performances. But as a critic, it is my task to communicate my personal opinion; how I saw it. And I must treat you as my friend and give you my honest analysis. In the end, I thought it was a hit-and-miss. On the pass/fail scale, it's teetering on the negative end. Too bad, because I was really rooting for it most of the way.