Dark Humor Over the Top

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2008)

Sweeney Todd has some marvelous scenes and great acting. It is highly entertaining in parts, particularly the first half. However, it seemed to go over the top with disgusting and unnecessary scenes.
Johnny Depp was well suited to this role - he is always at the top of his game. His facial expressions, in particular, added great depth to the character. He was at his best in Helena Bonham Carter's romantic day dream of the beach and marriage. That said, the voice he used will take viewers back to Captain Jack in Pirates. Several expressions could have fit that character equally as well. Such are the minefields, I suppose, of doing movies back to back with British accents.
The beauty of this movie is that it's a musical. The lyrics and music create a seductively funny elixir. Depp, Carter and the rest of the crew were exceptionally entertaining. Sasha Baron Cohen was perfect for his role. In fact, the casting for this film was as good as it gets.
The one negative was the gore. I understand the nature of the film and the need for it. However, I think that it could have been pulled off with a bit less in parts. The second half of the film became a bit too disgusting. He dwelled a bit too long on the gore in some camera shots and I think would have accomplished his purpose equally as well without some of that. I understand, as well, that this is part of Burton's style. But, in terms of entertainment, the film could have been improved with a bit more subtlety an innuendo in parts. It is reminiscent of Fargo with it's dark humor; however, while Fargo had some gore, it was not unnecessarily "in your face" with it. That's not to be hypercritical of Burton's work here. But, he's done better without this.
Overall it has great entertainment value, but I know many will stay away from the film due to it's incessant over the top gore in the second half of the film. Midway through - I was thinking, my wife might actually enjoy this ... I may need to call some friends and tell them to go see it ... by the end of the film, I thought, "there's no way." Some will like it, as I did, but I know many who would not. It's a shame as they would enjoy very much the singing, the humor, the darkness, and the acting, but will be a bit turned off in the end.