Wonderfully twisted macabre musical from a visionary.

Rating: 8/10 (24 February 2008)

Mixing the lyrical and musical talents of Steven Sondheim and the twisted macabre of Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd is a unique beast, not neatly fitting into any one genre and therefore struggling to find it's audience in a world of viewers who seem to take their musicals and splatter-fests mutually exclusively. But Sweeney Todd is so much more than either of those two things and each serves the other to tell a rich, funny, tragic and visually wonderful story about love loss and revenge.
From the very first ominous note, we're in for a Gothic treat, the wonderful CG title sequence acting as visual overture to the musical one playing over it. We are introduced to Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), a barber whose life is stolen from him by the villainous Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). Reminiscent of the path taken by The Count of Monte Cristo's Edmond Dantes but far less honourable, Barker returns under the name Sweeney Todd and vows revenge on those responsible.
The slightly jarring first songs can take a few minutes to adjust to for newbies, amidst the quintessentially Tim Burton looking design, but once the story's background is established and Johnny Depp's duet with Helena Bonham Carter, My Friends, begins, it is clear that the marriage of Sondheim's genius and Burton's twisted sensibility is a sound one. The lightning fast lyrics hold more cleverness in subsequent viewings and the musical nuances become more and more apparent with multiple listens. Burton draws on his influences, the washed out treatment of the picture evoking an almost black and white feel (although in colour) comprising of a blues, greys and golds with the occasional burst of vibrant colour in the dream/flashback sequences for punctuation. This is nothing new, Burton having used a similar palette for Sleepy Hollow, but just as it fit then, so too does it seem like Sondheim's Todd was meant to be lensed in that way. The character design further services Burton's filmic obsessions. The wild hair, pale skin and sunken eyes recall old horror films like The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and Bride of Frankenstein.
The standouts among the cast, ironically, are not the certified singers. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen and Alan Rickman all give superbly shaded performances heightened by their surprising vocal talents, while Burton sprays blood everywhere as a metaphorical emotional release for Todd's ailing psychopath. The final reel is a juggernaut of tragic happenstance, with a gut wrenching final shot that makes you realise that you care for these flawed nutcases more than you'd care to admit.
In short, Sweeney Todd is a wonderful adaptation. Those coming from experience with the show will adore it and it will gain more fans who haven't seen the show as it becomes the cult film it's destined to be.