At last! My arm is complete again!

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2008)

It is a scene worthy of Charles Dickens: gray buildings, gray skies and gray-faced people, living and dead. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter shine as Sweeney, the barber with a grudge, and Mrs. Lovett, who is in love with him.
Narrator: This is the tale of an ordinary man, who had everything... Mrs. Lovett: Barker, his name was. Benjamin Barker. Narrator: Until a man of power stole his freedom, destroyed his family and banished him... for life. And in his sorrow a new man was born.
Todd vows to have his pie in the form of revenge over the cruel Judge (Alan Rickman) who sent him to prison to steal his wife (Laura Michelle Kelly).
Sweeney Todd: "There's a hole in the world like a great black pit, and it's filled with people who are full of shite, and the vermin of the world inhabit it..."
One can hear a socialist screed against those of privilege who will give to the poor for once, transforming Mrs. Lovett's pies from the worst to the best in London.
Sweeney Todd: "They all deserve to die/Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why/Because in all of the whole human race Mrs. Lovett there are two kinds of men and only two/There's the one staying put in his proper place and one with his foot in the other one's face..."
The singing, while not what one would expect on Broadway, was on-key and the songs ("The Worst Pies in London", "My Friends", "Johanna", "A Little Priest", and many more) were a pure delight.
Tim Burton's adaptation was absolutely marvelous with outstanding acting by Depp, Carter, and newcomer Ed Sanders. I even have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Sacha Baron Cohen. I really never thought I would say that!
Timothy Spall was a delight with his rat face, and the only thing that detracted from perfection was the absence of Carter's meat pies in their full glory.