Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Streetrated R for graphic bloody violence
directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman
Moviemaking: 5 out of 5 stars
Moral Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Sweeney Todd was such a shockingly good movie, I don't even know what to say. This came as a complete surprise to me, so I don't want to reveal too much about this morbid tale from the dark Tim Burton.
Adapted from the musical by Stephen Sondheim, Burton's Todd is at once dismal and beautiful. The tale is about barber Benjamin Barker (Depp) wanting to get his revenge for the loss of his wife and his deportation several years earlier. Now going by the name Sweeney Todd, Barker proceeds to slit throats to satisfy his need for the death of the Judge Turpin (Rickman). Not to be outdone, Mrs. Lovett (Carter), Todd's landlady, decides to take the bodies and make meat pies from them to help boost her lousy business. In the end, Todd finds out through a tragic set of circumstances that revenge isn't everything- and learns his lesson.....sort of. (chuckle).
In addition to this crazy performance is a delightful role played by Borat himself- Sacha Baron Cohen.
The music in Sweeney Todd is most definitely the highlight. Sondheim's music is catchy and entertaining...from the organ strains of the opening credits to the duet in the final scene. All of the actors are fabulous vocalists, and who knew Johnny Depp could sing? Unfortunately, some of the movies' only curse words are used in the music as Depp sings about people "full of s***". This only occurred about three times however.
The major downfall of this movie was the bloodshed and the way in which Burton glorified it in his creepy stylistic way. The blood gushes, and splatters all over everything- including Sweeney Todd, the floor, the window, and often the camera lens. A grand total around 12 deaths are seen in much detail, including the death of a woman and the shockingly horrific neck stabbing final scene. At the same time, this was made by Tim Burton, so the blood looks fake and seems to be made to almost look comical- which turns out to be a bad thing.
Why do we want to glorify murder? That is exactly what Burton does, even though things are resolved at the end. There is no excuse though for making throat slitting look fun. Depp disturbingly appears to really enjoy the murders, as he doesn't hide the crimson stains all over his stark white skin. Because of this, the moral rating of Sweeney Todd is relatively low.
My verdict, if you are old enough, check out this brilliant musical. Even though the violence is disturbing, it is infrequent enough so that you can avoid watching them if you have a weak stomach. Sweeney Todd is by far one of the best films I have seen in a long time.
Signing out, The Buckland Fiddler
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