Nothing to get into a lather about.

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2008)

Johnny Depp plays Benjamin Barker, a talented barber who returns to London after 15 years to wreak bloody revenge on Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) and his nasty cohort Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall)the men who imprisoned him for a crime he didn't commit, and took away his wife and child.
As Sweeney Todd, the vengeful barber sets up business above a run-down pie shop (owned by his admirer Mrs. Lovett, played by Helena Bonham Carter), where he plans to lure his unsuspecting victims and cut their throats with his trusty open razors.
After a practice throat-slashing session on a unscrupulous business rival leaves him with a body to dispose of, Todd develops a convenient working relationship with the infatuated shop owner below, who is always in need of a fresh supply of cheap meat. As the barber's seething hatred for mankind grows, and he proceeds to provide 'very' close shaves for all of his customers, so Mrs. Lovett finds herself with a never-ending supply of filling for her pastries.
With plenty of practise under his belt, and a nifty tip-up chair for sending victims directly to Mrs. Lovett's basement, Todd concentrates his efforts on evening the score with Turpin and Bamford.
Based on the Broadway show by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd is a violent, dark, and twisted musical about unrequited love and retribution, as seen through the eyes of Hollywood's resident goth director, Tim Burton. The result is a rather uneven offering: a very imaginative and visually impressive movie (as one might expect from Burton), but one unfortunately marred by the director's tendency to concentrate on style over content, poor casting of the lead roles (Depp and Bonham Carter look the part, but struggle to carry a tune), some occasionally leaden pacing, and not enough in the way of memorable songs.
The film also suffers from too much coincidental plot contrivance and a rather long running time.
But it's not all bad news: there are some great turns from some of the supporting players (Sascha Baron Cohen proves that once again he is a force to be reckoned with, as rival barber Pirelli; Spall is brilliantly slimy and loathsome as Beadle; and newcomer Ed Sanders gives a confident performance as Toby, the young lad who discovers the terrible truth about Mrs. Lovett's secret ingredient) and the bloodletting is delightfully juicy, with plenty of arterial spray to please the gore-hounds amongst us.
6.5 out of 10, but not good enough to convince me to round it up to 7 for IMDb (at least until I've watched it a couple more times).