Overall Satisfying Though Not Quite Full

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2008)

I love the Sondheim musical and the performances of the great Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, George Hearn, and company. The music was breathtaking and every note had a purpose - not such the case in virtually every musical before and since. Tim Burton took on quite a task of bringing the three-hour epic musical to the screen. It was with trepidation and enthusiasm that I went and was overall pleased yet not quite satisfied. On the plus side I have always admired Burton and his vision in film. It is about as pure as it can get for this medium. He tackles what interests him for the most part just as his popular star Johnny Depp does as well. Depp always gives a good performance and here is no different. He even sings much better than I thought. The film is gorgeous with lush colour dripping in every scene, attentive detail given to set design and costume, and some wonderful lighting. Burton's London is almost surreal and yet breathtaking all the time. The blood flows generously - as it would in this film. Burton is not shy in showing the dark side of life. The performances are all pretty good. Depp was better than expected and manages to embody the skulking silence of Todd torn by thoughts of revenge and personal tragedy very nicely. Helena Bonham Carter looks th part of Mrs. Lovett(except for the plunging neckline I cannot quite remember seeing Miss Lansbury proffer) though the singing aspect of the role is quite honestly a bit much for her abilities; nonetheless, she is acceptable. Alan Rickman makes a formidable judge(though he cannot sing a lick), Timothy Spall makes a convincing Beadle(not asked to sing for the most part), and Sacha Baron Cohen really shines in a scene-stealing role as Pirelli. The rest of the major roles, Johanna, Tobias, and Anthony, are all played by newcomers who all out-perform the stars in terms of real singing talent however. It is important to remember that Sweeney Todd is 80% or more sung not spoken. The lack of singing ability from the stars does have to detract somewhat from the film especially for a fan of the original Broadway hit. But Burton's direction and the cast rise above these small problems and create a film that is highly enjoyable and entertaining. For me the biggest problem wasn't the lack of singing talent but the material that was cut from the original play. Whether for budgetary or time constraints or both, Burton shaved about an hour off the original musical composition: whole songs(at least four that I could count), bastardized lyrics(some songs edited heavily), and a frame story of storytellers telling us to attend the tale of Sweeney Todd MIA. I wish that Burton could have included these in the film and missed them sorely. But for the individual that is not familiar with the original at all or only briefly, this won't even be a minor consideration. So all in all I really enjoyed this production just wished I had more to taste.