this movie gave me chills...

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2007)

This movie made my skin crawl...
As a fan of music theater as well as film, i had to say that the adaptation of the musical to a movie was pretty well executed...
The music was not flawless, but really, thats what added to its sadistic charm.
Depp does a fantastic job creating "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and making the audience buy into his sadistic tendencies. Depp also does a great job with the music. As an actor and not a singer, the music feels and sounds more organic, and really adds to the character of Sweeney Todd. Helena Bonham Carter also does an incredible job as Mrs. Lovett from both an acting, and singing perspective.
The movie itself was dark...VERY DARK...
Knowing the film was directed by Tim Burton, i fully expected the film to be dark, but NOTHING could have prepared me for what I experienced.
Visually, the film was flawless. Costumes, set, everything was done Seamlessly to provide a grotesque and UTTERLY REPULSIVE environment for the film. The gore was a little surprising...to say the least. From the head splitting fall from the barber's chair, to the slit throats of the unfortunate patrons, I was at a loss for words to see a COMPLETE evasion of anything one might call a "subtle killing"...the whole thing was BRUTAL...and i LOVED IT! The only criticism i have is the complete absence of comedic relief in the film. In the musical, many of the songs and many of the moments experienced by the characters provide a great deal of "dark comedy" that only ADDS to the appeal of Sweeney's character. Burton, however, created what seemed to be more of a slasher film using a libretto. Rather then falling in love with the unfortunate, sadistic, and utterly MAD Anti-hero that is Sweeney Todd, i was completely at a loss for what to feel.
I really wanted to SYMPATHIZE for Sweeney, but the film really didn't allow for that to happen. I wanted to see the moments where WE felt how much Sweeney loved his wife and child, and how their memories feed his madness and his thirst for revenge. Burton really didn't allow for the audience to see and feel these moments.
as a conclusion...the film was dark, twisted, and horrifying...just as the story of Sweeney Todd SHOULD BE...BUT...i would have liked to see more LOVE in the film...Sweeney's LOVE for his wife and child is what feeds his anger and the monster that is "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"...