A Little Slash-Happy, and Not Just With Throats

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2008)

As far as the musical "Sweeney Todd" goes, they're getting closer to perfection in committing the play to movie memory. Unfortunately, they still have a long way to go.
This Tim Burton rendition cuts closer to the full vision than the 1982 TV film of the stage play starring Angela Lansbury, especially in casting a Johanna who doesn't look and sound like she found her way out of a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Raggedy Anne," but it's still extremely minimal. Some songs have been cut out entirely; the title song has merely been freed of lyric.
The biggest sin of all here is the loss of lyrics from "A Little Priest," including a complete removal of the "fiddle player/piccolo player" and "financier" bits. The song should be at least 7 minutes and 20 seconds long! Jamie Campbell Bower is a weak voice, as is Helena Bonham Carter.
But Johnny Depp (shockingly) and Alan Rickman (not so shockingly) survive the day, as well as a very young actor playing Toby and nailing some of the most difficult songs ever written for musical theatre. The slasher violence is fantastic, and the production design lacks nothing.
However, as John Logan was almost as happy with a razor as Sweeney, the film still misses the mark. It should be a ten-star production.