Sometimes a great film comes from the melding of the right content with the right artist, and with SWEENEY TODD this is the case. I can't think of a better director to bring Stephen Sondheim's classic dark musical to the screen than Tim Burton. Having never seen a stage production, I cannot comment on changes, but what is brought to the screen is magnificent. This is the kind of big entertainment that puts excites an audience's faces, making them remember how fun going to movies can be. Some may get hung up on the copious amount of blood, but I think it's all bloody brilliant.
After years in exile, barber Benjamin Barker returns to London as the bitter and vengeful Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS). His dark view of the city is in contrast to the wide-eyed optimism of young sailor Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower), who befriends Todd on their sea voyage together. Returning to his old flat, Todd finds the pie maker Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter, HOWARDS END) ready to assist the blood thirsty barber in his revenge against Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman, SENSE & SENSIBILITY) and his lackey Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall, SECRETS & LIES) for wrongly impressing him, which lead to Todd losing his wife and child, Johanna (Jayne Wisener), who is now the teenage ward of the vile judge. Along this campaign of revenge, Todd will face various obstacles including rival barber Signor Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen, BORAT), who abuses his young assistant Tobias (Ed Sanders).
If Burton is made for the material than Depp is made to play Todd. Depp brings a subtly madness to the role that builds as the character gets increasingly desperate. Depp deserves a third Oscar nomination for making the character a classic movie monster that we relate to via his sad longing and desire for justice. As for his singing, it is lifted up by his perfect performance and matches the character. Helena Bonham Carter is his equal. In an Oscar worthy performance, she steals scene with her dry, dark wit. Again her voice matches the role and is made all the better by a perfect performance. In the number revealing Mrs. Lovett's solution for disposing of the dead bodies at the same time saving money on supplies for her meat pies, shows off Depp and Carter's great partnership. She was my favorite surprise of the film.
In the casting of the two young leads, I applauded the filmmakers for casting for voice, giving a great counterbalance to Depp and Carter's more raw vocal work. Campbell and Wisener are powerful singers, bringing out the emotional punch of the production's ballads. Rickman and Spall ooze sleaze in their villainous roles. Because we love to hate these men, we sympathize with Todd even when he becomes madder and madder. Another delightful surprise is the performance of Sacha Baron Cohen as the pompous Pirelli. He gets the biggest laughs, while delivering on the songs. He's more than just Borat, and shows it here.
Burton's unique gothic style with heart fits very well with Sondheim's oft kilter musical, which features ballads to razor blades, throat slitting and cannibalism. From the glee of Todd and Lovett's murderous success to the skewed sunny side in Lovett's dream by the sea, Burton captures the perfect tone through every element of the production from art direction to editing to costume design. The London of SWEENEY TODD is the London of Todd's mind — dark, dirty and askew. One production element that no one will miss is the blood, because there are volcanic eruptions of it. However, Burton isn't just using it for shock value, which it achieves, but also as a vibrant metaphor for Todd's state of mind. Notice which throats shower forth an orgasmic explosion and which throats trickle sadly.
For the lovers of dark humor and wit, I see cult classic written all over this film. I mentioned in my review of HAIRSPRAY that HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL brought young new musical fans to the theaters to see the tuned version of John Waters' film and that it might prepare teens for smarter productions like TODD. Now they might have to wait a few years because this R-rated production is not for the Disney set. Unless your father is Kevin Smith. This film is for adults that love smart, challenging material, but still like to be entertained. For those who hate musicals, this is the musical for you. SWEENEY TODD is big, bold… and bloody, but it also has heart. Like Frankenstein, we understand what motivates Sweeney Todd and dread as he allows his rage to blind him of the hope around him. Not all musicals end happily and Burton doesn't lose a moment of the sad tragedy that this story becomes. Ranking along with EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and ED WOOD, Burton has made one of his best, as well as one of the premiere films of the year.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
