Bloody magnificent!

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2007)

Director Tim Burton's latest, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," an adaptation of the hit 1979 Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim, ranks as yet another imaginative working from the man behind the camera of "Beetlejuice" (1988), the first two "Batman" movies, "Edward Scissorhands" (1990), and "Sleepy Hollow" (1999). "Sweeney Todd" has many marvelous sights and sounds, and a production design that's Burton's best and most imaginative since "Batman" (1989). In Britain in the 19th century, the story concerns Benjamin Parker a.k.a. Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp, perfectly pale-faced), a barber who was once convicted on trumped-up charges and sent to prison and tortured for 15 years by the hard-nosed Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) and has now returned to avenge himself. He later involves his lowly neighbor, the baker Mrs. Lovett (Mrs. Tim Burton Helena Bonham Carter, equally pale-faced), in his bloody scheme to exact vengeance. Of course, she is no angel herself, since she is something of a loon. And later on the in the story, is in fact revealed to be something of a cannibal, serving the cooked corpses of Britain's lowliest to unsuspecting customers as a way of disposing of Todd's victims. A young boy named Toby (Ed Sanders) also takes up residence with Todd and Mrs. Lovett, and becomes an unwitting accomplice in their bloody scheme. It's safe to say that even with the plentiful musical numbers and weirdo acting styles, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" doesn't mess around. Blood flows copiously in over half a dozen graphic throat-cuttings that are surely going to put a drain on Hollywood's blood-pellet supply. Although I'm not really that big a fan of his work, leading this sure-fire cast of course is Johnny Depp, a brilliantly skilled performer who does indeed project his voice nicely and thoroughly for the audience, even though his performance does contain shades of ye old Cpt. Jack Sparrow. We've never quite seen Depp like this, as a would-be Psycho-type slasher whose thirst for revenge extends far beyond his target, and into the brutal aristocratic society that keeps working-class people like him and Mrs. Lovett in almost constant poverty. This is Burton's second most marvelous-looking film to date. His production design invokes a strong sense of the time and brings back memories of his earlier "Batman" movies. I could say that "Sweeney Todd" is better-looking than those films, but I'd be lying to myself; I'd never be able to top my love of Burton's "Batman." But then, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" wouldn't be so bloody magnificent, now would it?
10/10