Tim Burton fans will love it. Fans of the original musical will enjoy it but be disappointed.

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2007)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Tim Burton's adaptation of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical, a dark comedy with an ending bordering on Greek Tragedy. Tim Burton rounded up the usual suspects (Christopher Lee is absent though) and Johnny Depp is the lead as Sweeney Todd, a simple barber who once had a loving wife and daughter but they were stolen by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman, wonderful as always) and Sweeney was shipped away. Years later, Sweeney wants revenge and resolves to cut as many throats as it takes to get to Judge Turpin! I have always enjoyed the stage version of this for it's dark humor and macabre style and Tim Burton was an easy choice to make as director. His noir style where black, white and grey are the primaries and color, when used pops out suit the show very well. Visually the movie is a treat.
Now musically the film is slightly controversial. The most controversial choice is the casting of Johnny Depp. He has the character down all well and good. Some fans might object to the fact that he isn't a bass, like Todd was written originally. I'm torn, because I love Depp and he sang well, but I know that whenever a film version of a movie is made, that generally becomes the standard version by which future stage productions are based. Depp, like Jaoquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line" just doesn't have the lower notes. Depp is a bari-tenor. Still, he has the character down pat and sounds very good.
Helena Bonham Carter will never be mistaken for a professional singer, but she does fine. There were probably reams of actresses who could have done better, but again she looks and acts the part of Mrs. Lovett very well. There isn't a bad singer in the bunch. I loved Sacha Baron Cohen's turn as Signor Adolfo Pirelli, and Jamie Campbell Bower and Jayne Wisener both sounded lovely and Anthony and Johanna. Ed Sanders was adorable as Toby. Timothy Spall (the third cast member from the Harry Potter films) is great and weaselly as Beatle Bamford.
Some songs sound a little different from the original scoring. "Pretty Women" in particular because of the juxtaposition between a bass (Rickman, who sounds quite good) and a tenor (Depp), while in the original it was two basses. I loved "Worst Pies in London" "A Little Priest" "Johanna" "Epiphany" and "By the Sea". I was disappointed, as will be most fans of the original musical, by the sheer volume of songs left out. I and several other patrons stayed during the credits to see if "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" was finally going to be played. I mean, it's only the catchiest and most iconic of all the songs in the show. All we get is a small instrumental of it at the beginning. Ridiculous. It should have been sung at the end because the film ending feels hollow without it. So much was cut for time. This is a case where a "Director's Cut" is most necessary. I loved what was there. I just want more.
Tim Burton fans will love it. Fans of the original musical will enjoy it but be disappointed by how much was cut to appease mainstream audiences.
B+