"Sweeney Todd" Review

With so many movie musicals coming out in the last several years, one would think Hollywood is running out of things to get from Broadway. But it's never been a problem to find musical hits that can be made into a movie. Sometimes it takes longer to actually put it in movie form and get the right people, though. For Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" it would seem that Hollywood waited just long enough before getting people that would fit right in. Although Tim Burton never did something this bloody before, the atmosphere and style is right up his alley. The same goes for that Johnny Depp guy who keeps hanging around his movies.

The urban legend of a revenge seeking barber was adapted by Sondheim into musical form, with Burton and Depp using that same blueprint for their version. In London, a barber named Benjamin Barker was framed and sent to prison by Judge Turpin, who was out to get Barker's wife and daughter. Years later, Barker emerges with a frightful head of hair and a new name in Sweeney Todd. He receives help from terrible baker Ms Lovitt, who informs him that his wife is dead and his grown daughter is living with the Judge. Determined to get revenge, Sweeney sets himself up as a barber above Ms Lovitt's shop, hoping to eventually slit the Judge's throat. But when he loses his chance, Sweeney decides to bide time by slitting everyone else's throats instead- with the love sick Ms Lovitt finding a unique use for the bodies he leaves behind.

Burton was once the go to director for weird and offbeat projects, but his standing has slipped a bit recently with films like "Planet of the Apes" "Big Fish" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Therefore, "Sweeney Todd" allows Burton to return to his Gothic roots and go back to being really odd. Since Depp is even weirder than usual when he's with Burton, he lends a helping hand as well. Completing the unusual triangle is Sondheim, who's music accompanies all the cut throats.

The trappings of a Sondheim musical helps Burton get back to his strengths and ensures that his visuals don't overshadow the whole movie, as they've tended to do recently. "Sweeney Todd" has dark and dreary London scenery to spare, but Burton is content to visually stun with lots of blood this time. As for the music, Sondheim's tunes don't allow the audience to sing along like they would in "Chicago" and "Dreamgirls." In fact, they often don't seem designed to have catchy tunes at all. But although the viewer might have a hard time humming along or even understanding some words, Sondheim's melodies cast a soaring dark spell.

The opening song "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" was cut out, but the music remains intact for the movie prologue, which sets the menacing and bloody tone. Sondheim skewers the traditional love ballad several times with the tunes "My Friends" "Johanna" and "Pretty Women." There's even a few black comedy numbers like "The Contest" "A Little Priest" and "By The Sea." Sondheim's music was likely originally designed to be more operatic and with booming voices, but Burton had to work around that with a cast of singing newcomers. Sometimes we do wonder what "Sweeney Todd" would be like with less limited voices, yet Burton's triumph is to negate the damage. In his version of "Sweeney Todd" the performers are more actors than singers, which works out considering their considerable acting talents. Which isn't to say that they are tone deaf, however.

Although "Sweeney Todd" is Sondheim's original material, Burton puts a personal stamp on it that he hasn't shown in some time. His unique weirdness and sensibilities seemed compromised and bogged down in his last several movies, but "Sweeney Todd" seems to give Burton his brand back. It involves a lot of his traditional settings and weird eccentric touches, albeit in a brand new form for Burton. This combination of the old and new lets Burton come back to life as his "arm is complete again" to quote Sweeney.

But by the end of "Sweeney Todd" Burton and the singing take a back seat to the blood. The first half of the film really doesn't have much of it, and even as Sweeney's killing spree begins, it's not much that we can't handle. But the third act becomes such a roller coaster of murders and mayhem and tragic ironies, it can leave the viewer at a loss for words. Burton and Depp are to be commended for sheer shock value alone, and not letting "Sweeney Todd" chicken out at the end as more traditional films tend to do. The movie ends on a haunting note, but whether you completely fall in love with it by then, or are just left a bit numb by the madness, may vary for audience members- it may be a little bit of both. It plays almost like Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"- people forget that he was only a scenery chewing lunatic for about 20 minutes of that film, yet those parts were so over the top and deranged that its all many viewers remember him for. In this case, "Sweeney Todd"'s bloody portions are so gruesome that they can make you forget most of the film isn't like that. You may not know exactly how you feel about it until a little while later, or until you see it again. Still, the fact that its able to stick with you for that long is hardly a bad thing.

As for Depp, he can certainly act the part of Sweeney Todd himself, but can he sing it? Maybe not to the level of a Broadway star, but he can carry a few tunes. "My Friends" is the best example of that, with Depp's sheer force of will and intensity allowing him to power through the rest of the songs. Fortunately, Depp's usual skills as an actor can balance out whatever vocal concerns there are, as he makes you come close to feeling for him at his lowest points, then really freaks you out in his most murderous rages. For all his singing, he is a very demented killer as well as a broken man, and Depp's insane touches do not let us forget that. It also helps that Depp avoids his now typical Jack Sparrow/Willy Wonka style quirks this time around and largely plays it straight. Although he does have hair like Edward Scissorhands and is using his Jack Sparrow English accent, Depp is otherwise free from repeating his same old oddball tricks.

Sweeney's slightly better and equally demented half is Ms Lovitt in the form of Helena Bonham Carter, who's wispy wallflower voice is a bit more problematic. But like Depp, Carter has more skills to show than a voice. Carter walks a fine line between her doe eyed longing for Sweeney and some barking madness of her own, eventually overcoming the initial awkwardness of her singing. Alan Rickman sings a bit as his latest demented villain, Judge Turpin. But in a sea of creepy singing villainy, Rickman's usual speaking voice is still one of the most sinister things around. Sasha Baron Cohen even shows up as a famed Italian barber who comes across Sweeney. Aside from having a fitting comical opera voice, Cohen later makes some history by using his normal speaking voice for perhaps the first time in his career. A few newcomers show up as younger characters, with the very young Ed Saunders making the most impact as a little boy taken in by Ms Lovitt.

"Sweeney Todd" brings Burton back to life by killing a score of people along the way. It allows Depp to conquer yet another medium of film, while bringing Sondheim's almost equally demented sensibility to the big screen at last. The strictest of Sondheim and Broadway purists may be more critical of the singing and emphasis on gore, however. But for Burton and Depp's crowd, "Sweeney Todd" is a demonic delight.