Ups & Downs: Thoughts on Sweeney

Rating: 6/10 (21 December 2007)

I decided to give this review a go, since the hype among Sondheim, Depp, and Burton fans alike has been massive. I just came back from an opening weekend screening with friends of mine, and as a professional musician who does musical theatre, I can only tip my hat so far to this cast and crew. At first glance, the visual effect of the movie is quite brilliant and beautiful; Tim Burton delivers splendidly with his adaptation of Sweeney Todd's London, and you truly feel that it really is "a hole in the world with a big, black pit." If you watch closely, the film's initial greyscale-like filter gives way to more colorful and edgy lighting and scenery as the plot (and the blood) thickens. Make-up, costume, and hair people on this project are also to be given a sound nod, as the characters are most excellently portrayed visually. Sweeney is as deranged and enigmatic as he's ever been with his dark eyes and wild hair, while Johanna is a mysterious and stunning young beauty.
The acting in this film is fitting of the stellar cast. Johnny Depp most definitely rises to the occasion dramatically, giving you all the facets of the manic, sometimes humorous, and profoundly terrifying character that is Sweeney Todd. Helena Bohnam Carter is a darkly funny and conniving Mrs. Lovett, while Judge Turpin and Beadle Bamford (Alan Rickman & Timothy Spall respectively) are the tried-and-true 'evil duo.' You have a surprisingly funny and enjoyable performance from Signor Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen of 'Borat' fame), and the younger members of the cast do quite well. Probably one of the more interesting casting changes was the choice to have Tobias (Toby) played as an actual young boy (Ed Sanders). However, it really works, and you feel for him and his safety throughout the film.
All this being said, the main issue I held with this film was the fact that major elements of the original musical were excluded from the film. Now I can certainly understand making cuts in a stage-to-screen adaptation of a piece such as this, but I feel that there were some things that should not have been left out entirely as they were, namely the chorus and the choral commentary of the story (The Ballad of Sweeney Todd). I don't feel that much time would have been wasted or added by keeping that in. Also, the vocal performance from several actors (Depp, sadly, among them) was less than acceptable. With the knowledge that movies won't always cast the great singing actor, I think that there could have been a lot more work and detail on the singing of this show, as it is crucial to the acting itself, and not just soliloquy or additional material. Finally, I felt that the cuts made to the score were useless, as the film still ran over 2 1/2 hours, and some of the editing really did not make any sense (e.g. the dialogue between singing in "A Little Priest" - and the point of cutting that out was???) All in all, I did enjoy myself, but I found myself missing a lot of things that make Sweeney Todd the wonderful musical theatre piece that it is. So if you're an MT enthusiast and are still interested in going? I'd wait for the DVD...and borrow it from a friend.