Ruining a Broadway masterpiece

Rating: 3/10 (5 April 2008)

Reasons this film is such a heartbreaking disappointment to those of us who consider Sondheim's musical one of the great triumphs of the Broadway stage: 1.The missing song: Can you imagine Oklahoma without "O What a Beautiful Morning", or "The King and I" without "Shall We Dance?" or South Pacific without "Bali Hai"? By eliminating the Ballad of Sweeney Todd which was a riveting opening number possessing both understated energy, going from the depths of ominous repetitive rhythms to the High penetrating falsettos of the tenors was a terrible miscalculation. Replacing it with just the opening introductory vamp is pointless. I noticed in the comments that so many people who did not know the show complained about the music. The genius of Sondheim's score is that it had a combination of clever songs, heart wrenching songs, lyrical passages - and a memorable, rhythmic driving song--the Ballad of Sweeney Todd -- which appears throughout the show -- at the beginning, the ending and several key spots in between. Without it, you've robbed the audience of a memorable tune -- and you've robbed them of rhythmic drive. No wonder their are complaints about the music! It's missing a key and crucial ingredient. 2. The casting. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are terrific actors - but not in this film. Oh how we miss the over-the-top outrageousness of Angela Landsbury's Mrs. Lovett and George Hearn's manic, desperate Sweeney Todd, and the more recent inspired interpretations by performers like the powerhouse Patti Lupone. Instead we get sour, dour often understated characters filled with pure bitterness and hatred -- robbing them of their humanity. On the stage, believe it or not, we could even identify with the characters. Here we could care less about them. 3. Where's the humor? By focusing only on the dark aspects of the show, there is no fun. The few more-light hearted moments are non-existent. The attempts at movie humor (the roaches in the "worst Pies in London " scene, the comic turn of Pirelli's crooked Italian barber, marred in the film by his so obviously beating and abusing Toby, makes the audience just feel uncomfortable. In "Have a little Priest" both Depp and Carter hardly ever crack a smile - they just sing with bitter irony and almost no facial expressions. 4. Speaking about Toby, another huge miscalculation was making his character a child. In the Broadway show -- he is at the very least a teenager -- even in his 20s. With Toby now a youngster -- his story line becomes pathetic. In the original he was a perfect foil for Mrs. Lovett's and Sweeney Todd's gruesome antics. His revenge is satisfying on the stage. In the movie it is macabre. 5. The singing. Helena Bonham Carter's singing is so weak -- and has such poor diction, she sounds like a little girl without any vocal training. Johnny Depp's pop singing sound ("I will have vennnnnnnnngeance") is such a letdown after having heard some powerful operatically trained voices singing the role. 6. The violence. In the recent version of the Broadway Show with Lupone and company playing instruments in addition to acting (creating its own wonderfully imaginative, circus- like atmosphere)-there was no blood -- just red clothes And yet, when the violent actions of Sweeney Todd were shown on stage either realistically or symbolically, they were shocking - jolting. In the movie, the buckets of blood are not shocking -- we get immune to it. So the whole impact of a musical based on such macabre material is muted.
Having said all of this -- one should note that the set decoration -- the scenes of a spectacularly grimy blue-gray London covered in soot and smoke and existing in nightmares is just fine. It's just too bad that such disservice was paid to the spirit of the musical -- what was remarkable, fresh, riveting and memorable is all lost. How sad!!