Dark and different - Burton's Brilliance

Rating: 9/10 (9 October 2008)

Benjamin Barker, Sweeney Todd (Depp) returns to London to get revenge on Judge Turpin (Rickman) who sent him to prison and stole his wife.
Tim Burton brings his dark imagination to vivid life once again in this deeply disturbing and brutal musical horror, and is his darkest film to date.
With an opening shot of raw red blood dropping through machines during the credits, the tone for the film is set and Burton instantly dives deep into the darkness of London, with stunning imagery for the City, and a particularly excellent shot of the London Bridge, helps achieve the ultimate chill factor as Sweeney Todd enters.
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) shows once again why he's the hottest actor around by giving an astounding Oscar nominated performance as barber Sweeney Todd. In his first singing role, Depp creates the right feel for the character, emotionally scared but vengeful to, and this is portrayed through an excellent choice of songs.
Bonham Carter (Fight Club) gives a good performance as Mrs Lovett and her songs give an upbeat mood to the dark tale, though the humour is slightly off putting.
Every actor sang their own songs and all were singing for their first time on screen, and all perform well and in particular Depp who arguably has the hardest and most songs to perform, but all are done so well. The songs are repeated which is slightly disappointing but nevertheless there isn't one bad song and each reflects what a dark narrative it is.
Based on the Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd tells a harrowing and disturbing tale of the barber who cuts people up and makes pies out of their bodies, and this alone is enough to chill you to the bone as we see the madness and the darkness of a man.
The graphic design behind the chair and the settings in general achieve the darkness and emphasise the moody atmosphere of the plot, and are brilliantly directed by Burton who uses a variety of techniques to get the true cutting edge, literally.
Sweeney Todd isn't for the fainthearted as it is truly graphic and very bloody and the ideology of killing in that particular manner is very tense. This is a true horror, expertly (if somewhat bizarrely) directed in usual scrumptious and diverse fashion by Tim Burton, and acted exceptionally well by Depp with a great support cast, make the most graphic and horrific film of 2007, which is an essential watch, there is nothing out there like it.