Memorable

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2008)

Based on Stephen Sondheim's hit Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a classic revenge story ala Zorro or Count of Monte Cristo (DOM steals humble hunk's wife and child) but told in bloodthirsty gory, er, glory.
Wrongfully accused barber Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) goes back home to London with vendetta on his mind as Sweeney Todd, barber extraordinaire. Somehow, the townspeople don't seem to find his and fellow tenant Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter)'s ghoulish looks any stranger than her meat pies. Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) is the insidious old geezer who steals Barker's wife (Laura Michelle Kelly) and now has evil designs for his daughter! The rest of the supporting cast gave memorable performances. Sacha Baron Cohen adds a fun albeit short stint as Todd's competitor, Signor Adolfo Pirelli. Timothy Spall (who once more plays the villain's sidekick as in Enchanted) is the judge's disgustingly evil lackey Beadle Bamford. Ed Sanders as the poor orphan boy Toby is an incredibly bright and talented surprise. Jamie Campbell Bower as the lovestruck sailor Anthony Hope appears in the very first scene with Depp and even as the film unravels, his tenor voice and effeminate looks has the audience wrestling with his gender. He looks a lot like Claire Danes or Hanson's lead singer, especially when he does the trademark Danes facial expression of the furrowed forehead. Jayne Wisener plays the 15-year old Johanna, Barker's daughter all grown up. Despite her satisfactory acting chops, she is shockingly blond with an annoying soprano voice that it's hard to see her as the beauty she is supposed to be.
Even with Hollywood's latest character-role fave Johnny Depp as the star and one of my fave directors Tim Burton at the helm, musicals even in film form is still unsavory for me. But Burton succeeds in sneaking Sweeney Todd into your thoughts long after you've left the cinema. It's good to confirm that I have not been desensitized after seeing so much gore, and I'm even happier that violence was not glorified in this film despite gory images being the staple in each scene.