Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I was quite surprised when I arrived at this website to review SWEENEY TODD and saw how many wonderful reviews have been garnered by the film. Hence, the title above.

The movie has been out for several months so much of Mr. Burton's distinctive style was expected. However, little was found to recommend it other than some of the performances of the supporting cast (bravo Misters Rickman and Cohen). The overall product did not work for me. As a rule, I'm a huge fan of musicals--and, of course, Mr. Strondheim--but the action seemed largely contrived and one dimensional which made it difficult for me to care or relate to much of the storyline. I'm usually a huge Johnny Depp fan--and I think he did about everything with the role that could be done--but his performance could not salvage the movie. I felt Helena Bonham Carter, a superb actress, was miscast.

The premise and dark theme of the production has never tempted me to see it on the stage. This is not to say that I avoid any musical not possessing the MARY POPPINS "fluff factor". However, at the risk of appearing anachronistic, I just didn't perceive much entertainment value--any more than I would Manson's life being put to music.

A wonderful modern opera. Is there anything Johnny Depp can't do? He is unforgettable.

First of all, I'd like to give the actors an A for Effort, as we see how, even though they are NOT singers, they trained in ways they could for the movie. I usually don't mind movie soundtracks, but unless I'm watching this particular movie, I'm not going to listen to the soundtrack.

I'm not familiar with the Broadway version, but I did feel that this film was lacking in the humor department. Sacha Baron Cohen was comic relief early on in the film, along with Mrs. Lovett's dream, and later, Mrs. Lovett's ending (the sequence of events leading up to it probably had something to do with it). I love black comedy, I kept feeling like there should be some macabre humor mixed in, but it just wasn't happening.

The film was too dark. I don't mean dark as in thematic elements - as I enjoy "darker" fiction written by classic authors (Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Federico Garcia Lorca, etc.) - but the lighting was too dark. This is probably so we can focus on JUST HOW MUCH BLOOD is spilled, which was too bright, and took me out of the story thinking of what fake blood they used... in other words, it was distracting. Hell, I can't even identify with those who complain of too much blood - it was so fake-looking, people SHOULD be complaining about ruining good fabrics with orange paint. I think the film would've been just fine had they left the colors as they were.

However. I enjoyed the film. Not because it's particularly memorable, or astounding, or even because I empathize so greatly with Barker/Todd (though the transition of happy, loving father to vengeful, hateful sadist is a tragic, and plausible, one). I like this movie because I take it with a grain of salt. Sweeney Todd at the beach, or his awkwardness in kissing Mrs. Lovett, were great moments. I could laugh at the hodge-podge character Pirelli was (mixture of Spanish, Italian and French it seemed like), and the irony of Todd/Lovett's demise. I could also shake my head at how gullible Mrs. Lovett's customers were, that NOBODY (except for Toby) ever caught on that it was dear neighbor Henry for dinner tonight.

The bottom-line: Rent this movie, be sure you're loaded up on soda and popcorn. Do NOT take this movie seriously, and remember kids - it's just paint.

Well I looooove this film, and the dvd is pretty good. I haven't seen the special edition one, but this one's got a behind the scenes video, so it's not bad. Audio can be in english, french and spanish and with subtitles in any of these languages. Hope this works! =)

Given as gift and the recipient was thrilled. I was, however, disappointed at how long it took for me to receive this item. Shipping was slower than usual for Amazon.