A gothically twisted and darkly satisfying musical epic

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2008)

In Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Johnny Depp plays the title role of a barber sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, losing his wife and daughter. After fifteen years, he returns to London to seek revenge on the man who helped send him, Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). But to lure him in, Todd needs to become a barber again, albeit one who slits throats now too.
It may have been hard at first to imagine the film being true to the Broadway show, but Tim Burton has helped craft a Gothic and darkly satisfying version that is all his own, but still does the original musical justice. Every set piece, every costume and every minute that passes breathes an authentic stench of old 1800's London, only matched by those recreating the work of Charles Dickens (and in many cases, Burton's vision tops those too). The painstakingly detailed art direction is simply marvellous, and even with the film's graphic content, is enough to make just about anyone feel the need to see the movie.
The cinematography and editing (stylistically wise) are also very well done, capturing quite a few great angles, and giving the sequences just the right amount of exposure that they need. They also help showcase the grand set pieces rather well. The cast is fairly small (speaking wise anyway), but everyone helps make the film exuberantly capture the murky and lurid feel of Burton was obviously going for, and also help to allow the film to fit neatly in with his twisted visions in his older films like Sleepy Hollow, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and Batman Returns.
Depp plays Todd brilliantly, leaving behind his over-the-top Jack Sparrow persona and tapping into his decades old emo-style he helped perfect in his previous work with Burton. He is quietly menacing throughout the entire film (and frequently frowning when he is not yelling at the top of his lungs), and his brooding sense of destruction only helps to make this another one to add to Depp's list of best performances. He outshines everyone, musical number or not, and never once does he allow let up in his intensity.
Supporting turns by Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, the baker who works under Todd's barbershop, and Rickman as Tirpin are both very well expressed, and help complement Depp's performance beautifully. Carter has genuine chemistry with Depp, and plays off him very well (even when his character is not giving into any of her advances). Their musical numbers together are probably the best in the entire film. Rickman, while a little underused here, does very well in the scenes he does have and has a great singing voice. His twisted malice is used very well here, and further makes him a shady icon in the film world. Sacha Baron Cohen and Timothy Spall do very nice work in their small roles as well, further proving their use as great character actors.
I was really impressed however with the rest of the cast, including Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jayne Wisener and Ed Sanders. Despite their relative newness to the film scene, all four of them do fantastic in their roles, and work fabulous with the more commonly known actors. Special mention must go out to Sanders' work, who goes above and beyond the needed maturity for the role, and nearly steals every scene that he is in.
Anyone who felt the all too important element of Todd's throat slittings would either be trimmed down or cut out entirely will be very surprised to see quite a few moments here, in all of their bloody glory. While some of the blood may look slightly excessive, Burton has amped it up to truly express the rage Todd is feeling, as well as the sheer violence of it all. I was intrigued and disheartened by how bright red it was at first (and how it resembled the geysers spilt in the likes of Kill Bill: Volume 1), but it slowly grew on me. It just felt right to have it so vividly expressed, and it helps lend a darkly comic touch to more than a few of the throat slittings. What is even more intriguing is how the blood is actually the brightest element in the entire picture, and that says a lot about what Burton was obviously focusing on rather deeply.
What brings the film down from true greatness is how it feels every minute of its near two hour running time. I loved every moment of it, but I think the film really dragged in the middle section, and even near the beginning. There is just no fair balance for the film, and even at its best moments, it still feels like it is kicking its feet and delaying its eventual ending. I realize that quite a few songs were trimmed or completely taken out of the film (whether this is good or bad, I have yet to decide), but the ones that were left in do not make the film feel any brisker. I also did not like how the film did not attempt to correct a few of the woes of the original show. Tirpin's character is still not developed enough. The emotionally bleak finale still feels a touch rushed. Fans of the original show will pick up on these details rather quickly, and while they do not make the film any worse, it just makes it so that the film cannot be any better.
It may be the darkest and most graphic musical ever put to celluloid (at least, until Evil Dead: The Musical graces the big screen), but Sweeney Todd is also very authentic in its capturing, and is packed with great performances and even better musical numbers. It is not perfect, but it is a step in a much better direction than Dreamgirls made last year.
9/10.