perfect vehicle for Burton and Depp

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2008)

The story of Sweeney Todd is what Charles Dickens might have come up with had he used Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" as his source of inspiration. Of course, in a Dickens version, all those who found themselves on the wrong side of Todd's razor would be venal exploiters of the poor and working classes who clearly deserved the fate that befell them. In Stephen Sondheim's musical treatment of the story, however, people of virtually all social categories and walks of life get tossed indiscriminately into the meat grinder, in as grim a spectacle of democratic equanimity as we've encountered in quite some time. For this is a tale of a man who allows the desire for vengeance to so completely overtake him that he quickly turns from being a righteous avenging angel seeking justice for himself and his loved ones to a maniacal serial murderer who kills for the sheer sake of killing (with a little culinary treat thrown in as a side benefit).
Benjamin Barker starts off as a good-natured barber living with his impossibly sweet wife and brand new baby daughter in 19th Century London. When a corrupt judge who has designs on Barker's wife throws the young man into prison on false charges, Barker transforms into a gloomy and bitter man, determined to exact his revenge on the individual who ruined his life, drove his wife to suicide and has made Barker's now-teenaged daughter an object of his unwanted, lascivious advances. On his arrival back in London once again a free man, Barker changes his name to Sweeney Todd and resumes business in the barber shop located above Mrs. Lovett's thoroughly unhygienic meat pie emporium where the cockroaches barely outnumber the raisins in the recipe. Eventually, the two entrepreneurs hit upon a scheme to systematically slice the throats of Todd's customers, then add the bodily remains to Mrs. Lovett's list of secret culinary ingredients.
With "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," director Tim Burton has finally found the material he was born to make. Dark as well as surrealistic, morbid as well as operatic, "Sweeney Todd" perfectly fits the Tim Burton style and temperament, and, indeed, the filmmaker has taken full advantage of the opportunity afforded by the property, allowing his imagination to run wild in the areas of art direction, set decoration, costume design and makeup. Yet, while this is a beautifully crafted film from a technical standpoint, Burton never allows the visuals to overshadow the storyline or the characters.
"Sweeney Todd" is clearly not intended for all audiences. It is certainly a different kind of musical, pitch-dark and violent and with no real choreography to speak of. And any hopes for a sentimental, happily-ever-after resolution are washed away by the sanguinary nature of the scenario and a closing shot that is literally a tableaux steeped in blood. Yet, there is one element that makes it all connect with audiences, and that is Johnny Depp's performance. Depp could not have found a role more perfectly suited to his demeanor and talents than that of Sweeney Todd. Never before has his brooding intensity and expression of wild-eyed mania been used to more impressive effect than it is here. He makes a character whom it is often very hard to like into a person the audience can feel for and care about, no small feat in light of the many reprehensible actions he performs on screen. Depp also does a more-than-adequate job with Sondheim's challenging tunes, especially given the actor's clearly limited range as a singer.
Depp gets strong support from Helena Bonham Carter as his pasty-faced, death-hued partner-in-crime, Mrs. Lovett, while Sasha Baron Cohen and Alan Rickman bring subtle shadings to their otherwise hiss-able villains.