A Close Shave

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2007)

I enjoy Tim Burton for a few reasons, mostly concerning his style of view, he is very Gothic and dark and his newest movie Sweeny Todd is no exception. It has the very same tone and coloring as Sleepy Hollow and the same musical numbers as Corpse Bride or Nightmare before Christmas. The story tells of a barber whose wife is stolen by the town's judge, while he was sentenced and banished. Upon returning back to the town, he seeks revenge on the judge and befriends a woman who makes horrible meat pies. But he later starts killing just for fun. This movie has the Burton feel that I was looking for, the makeup, including blood, was excellent, as well as wardrobe, the acting was okay and so was the musical numbers and the murders were very.awkward. I enjoyed this film, not the best Tim Burton can do, but a great film nonetheless.
To kick it off, the art direction, as well as the makeup and wardrobe were outstanding! Like I said, this movie had the standard Burton feel of being dark and gloomy, with many shades of grey and white. There were some musty tones and some bright sunny tones, just like Sleepy Hollow. The architecture of some of the houses did not have the Burton feel like crooked framework, weird designs and awkward shaped trees. The makeup was amazing! Each person had the pale-faced look with dark shadows under the eyes, they had that really Gothic look but at the same time they accomplished the feel of 18th or 19th century look. The wardrobes in this film were really good, better than Sleepy Hollow, and they seemed more complex in look. The three costumes I really enjoyed is Mrs. Lovett's, Judge Turpin's and Pirelli's. This movie has to win something for Best Costuming if not Art Direction.
The acting was okay, as was the musical numbers. Depp's performance as Sweeney Todd was pretty good and seemed like a sober Jack Sparrow, however, I did not think that his full acting abilities were met in this film, but it still was pretty great. Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Mrs. Lovett, was, sad to say, better than Johnny. She really brought depth and feel to her character. Her character also seemed to have the better one-liners too. There were great performances by Timothy Spall, Laura Michelle Kelley, Ed Sanders and Jamie Bower. Alan Richman had a small part, but for a small part, he seemed pretty good, a bit too "light" though. Sacha Baron Cohen, actually seemed creepy and disturbed, but I can't pass up the fact that he is Borat. The musical numbers were.interesting. The lyrics were very well written and the way that each is played out was great, but the actors and actresses who sand seemed as though they were trying not to laugh. I don't think that Depp, Cohen or Richman can sing, or Spall. But the manner in which they carried out, I enjoyed.
The horror in this film was very Burton-like. However, this movie does not have any "jump-out" scares but rather the goriness and the implied horror approach. Gore: Tim Burton has a nack for gory movies and this movie is no exception, with extremely bloody throat slitting, blood letting and neck breaking, this movie accomplishes its fair share of red colors. The blood is his "trademark" blood, from Sleepy Hollow, as in, thick, red and viscous, rather than what blood should look like. The implied horror is there, especially when it involves its own musical number and the meat pies. Another great example of implied horror is the whole idea of a tragic hero turned murder, almost poetic in the sense of a man who lost everything. But other than that, it is not as scary as some of Burton's other work.
Overall, this movie is a pretty good movie; it has everything that a horror musical should have; gore, implied horror, murder, music and Tim Burton. Even though the character could have put a bit more effort in this film, they did a pretty great job with what they had. This film was a very interesting film and something different for Tim Burton. I honestly think that this film was not as big of a hype as many people and web-sites made it, but it did not let my faith in Tim Burton disappear, but it wasn't an epic musical. I would recommend this movie to horror fans, but with a warning that the musical number can be a bit distracting. As for musical buffs, the gore might steer you away from this film. As for me, I enjoyed it because I'm well rounded and it really gave me a close shave.