Bloody Boring!

Rating: 2/10 (20 March 2008)

There seems to be a tendency for movie fans to label "great" anything that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp collaborate on. This is the only reason I can think of that "Sweeney Todd" has been ranked so highly on this site. I am a big fan of both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, but this does not cloud my judgment. Sweeney Todd is an average film at best. Like all Tim Burton films the imagery is beautifully dark but surely at this stage this is the least we expect of the man. Apart from the cinematography there was little else I liked about it.A rolling stones-like English accent and Gothic make-up does not constitute a brilliant performance in my book.
The scenes were repetitive, especially when the killings began; this was more boring than horrific. Little effort was made to move past the imagery of the deep red blood contrasting with the dark setting. It seemed that Burton thought that this was enough to keep the audience satisfied. It wasn't. A man sitting near me in the cinema actually fell asleep for half the film and I didn't blame him.
Ultimately I thought the film was mediocre and I won't be watching it again. I am still a fan of Tim Burton though and hope his next project is a vast improvement on this one. Sweeney Todd will no doubt appeal to Burtons many Gothic fans who will worship the man regardless but for other less ardent fans this is possible one to miss, or watch once to satisfy curiosity.