You can't go wrong with Sondheim

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2008)

At the start I'd just like to say that I am completely biased about Sondheim. I think that there is very little that you can do to stuff up a musical written by him, and in many ways the less you do with it the more the music gets to shine. I think, however, from the perspective of cinema, Tim Burton is very well suited to directing this film because of his penchant for darkness, and his over-the-top style. So though I have not always thought that Tim Burton was the best of directors, I think this is incredibly good.
The music itself was excellent, and I really didn't mind the cut-down length of some of the songs. As for the singing overall, I think it feel, but only slightly, into the trap of most Burton pictures, which is having the music so loud it drowns out the singing. In other Tim Burton musicals like Willie Wonka and Corpse Bride I could hardly hear the words, and I couldn't follow what was going on. With this the balance was a bit off, but only slightly. Besides that all the actors, particularly the young boy, did a very good job. As for the other actors, well, the best thing about opera (or light opera), rather than musicals, is that a good singing voice comes second to emotion. So the quality of the action greatly forgives the very good, but not great singing. What did, and always does, grate me is how digitised the voices were. Even in serious operatic performances I prefer a few missed notes. In this, of course, there were none. And this somewhat detracts from the emotion; an angry man should not hit every note. A more frenzied singing style would be more appropriate.
I have not much to add with the cinematography itself, or with the direction. I thought the beach scene in the dream was very funny indeed, and that is indicative of Tim Burton's great mix of humour and horror throughout. One thing that I thought, though, was that the scenery dragged a bit towards the end. I got a bit sick of seeing the same old set, so by the time we got to the finale in the basement I felt a little bored. But still, not much.
The acting, however, is where this movie shines. The stars are all first-class actors. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman are all some of my perennial favourites. But the supporting cast was even better. Timothy Spall is his usual fantastic self, and Sasha Baron Cohen was absolutely hilarious. But Ed Sanders was the real stand-out performance. It was just as eye-catching as Jack Wild's performance as the Artful Dodger in Oliver.
In the end I think that this was a really fantastic movie, and I recommend it to everyone!