Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2020)

Directed by Tim Burton. Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Ed Sanders, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jayne Wisener, Sacha Baron Cohen, Laura Michelle Kelly. (R)
Dark but dazzling adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler musical infuses the Grand Guignol with toe-tapping melody, an operatic tragedy with the cold steel of a slasher and the pounding heart of a hopeless romantic. Burton didn't seem a likely candidate to ever helm a snazzy song-and-dancer, but who else but him could bring this deliciously sordid story to life on the big screen? By dropping much of the dancing and group choruses and focusing on intimate musical performances driven by the plot, emotions, and inner thoughts of the characters, Burton does what few movie musicals ever have: near-total immersion in the (heightened) reality of the narrative. Strong production values (set designer Dante Ferretti already knew a thing or two about infernal urban slop of the 19th century with "Gangs of New York") and top-notch casting of the leads--not to mention a memorably flamboyant turn from Cohen as a rival barber--make up for the occasional lull and a few too many unvaried throat slittings. In both their performances and the characters they play (equally insipid), Bower and Wisener's would-be-lovers spoil the ghoulishly glorious fun almost every time they show up, but it's a small price to pay for the opportunity to see Depp show more affection for shiny straight razors than for Carter's aroused meat pie vendor downstairs. Per Sondheim, the only film version of his work that has his approval.
81/100