Bleedin' Brilliant

Rating: 9/10 (9 June 2008)

Ah Sweeney Todd. Dark, menacing and brilliant. The streets of London are refulgent with greed, lust and death. The setting here is truly horrific, and Burton emphasises this, almost elevating the backdrop to the status of a main character.
The music carries it along nicely, the songs not sounding too repetitive. Of course this is down to the original brilliance of the Sondheim musical, making it a far more enjoyable watch than, let's say, last year's horrific 'Dreamgirls'. I will not say that the singing is perfect, and perhaps this is where the film loses that last star. Depp makes a stellar effort both acting and singing-wise and on the whole manages to pull it off with a sinister glow, whilst Helena Bonham Carter speaks and slurs her way through her lines. However her lack of musical talent is less pronounced due to her amazing acting ability and wonderful charm; she seemed to make poor singing ability fit her character, even if she was a lead in a musical. The most impressive musical talent was shown by Ed Sanders, playing the young boy Toby; he had a fantastic voice, along with high quality acting ability; he should go very far.
Campbell Bower and Wisener are also acceptable in their roles as the young lovers, but their story seems rather dull due to the lack of charm present in both young actors; I felt that it seemed as though that had been chosen purely on their singing ability.
Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall scared and entertained as usual, both inhabiting their natural roles as villain and slimy sidekick; there's a reason they're typecast: they're excellent in the part.
Sascha Baron Cohen also performed well, if only for a brief time. Here is a performance that proves he can pull-off a serious (-ish!) role with style and panache.
The gore, although plentiful, is of a very theatrical nature, and i found that it did not make me too squeamish. However, if you do have a weak stomach I would suggest that this is not the film for you.
Overall I felt that this was a stylish, powerful film that seemed to affect me more than many films these days, seemingly creating pathos for the titular character even whilst he was brutally slaughtering innocent people.