Very underwhelming and lacking a climax

Rating: 3/10 (25 December 2007)

Though moderately entertaining, Sweeney Todd fell far short of all the critical acclaim it has been receiving.
First of all, I should say that although I am a fan of musicals (Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Dreamgirls, Harispray are 4 of my favorite movies) however, I was completely unaware that Sweeney Todd was a musical until a friend told me. So basically, I went in with no expectations other that the expectation to be entertained, and honestly, I was not.
I looked at my watch a number of times throughout the movie to attempt to figure out about how much longer I would be sitting there. Though I did not feel the urge to leave, I was definitely looking forward to the end of the movie--to a climax and a resolution.
Unfortunately, this movie delivered neither of these. Any kind of story revolves around the plot and the build up to the climax and the resolution. Unfortunately the "climax" of the movie, if you so choose to call it that, has the same energy level, volume, and power and the remainder of the movie and it falls WAY WAY flat.
And although I generally like Johnny Depp in most of his roles, he was horribly cast in this movie. One of the things I most remember about movies like Chicago and Dreamgirls and Moulin Rouge was being amazed at the powerhouse voices of big stars who had been plain old actors for the majority of their careers.
Basically, they should have either completely eliminated all the music from Sweeney Todd and made it into a regular movie, which would have made it a masterpiece if the same actors had been chosen, or alternately, cast little known actors who CAN sing (like Johanna for example)and give us the musical climax we so badly desire when watching a musical or any movie.