Sweeney Todd: Der teuflische Barbier aus der Fleet Street

After fifteen years in the Australian pokey, barber Johnny Depp (as Benjamin Barker) returns to his nineteenth century Fleet Street, London flat and assumes the name "Sweeney Todd". Wrongly imprisoned, Mr. Depp is in a vengeful mood. He learns his wife has poisoned herself, and left teenage daughter Jayne Wisener (as Johanna) in the clutches of lusty Alan Rickman (as Judge Turpin) and Timothy Spall (as Beadle Bamford). Depp's sailing companion, young Jamie Campbell Bower (as Anthony Hope) hears Ms. Wisener singing, and falls in love at first listen. And, she is similarly smitten.

Meanwhile, acting like "Aladdin Sane", Depp showers himself with the blood of throat-slit victims. His new co-dependent companion, dark-eyed Helena Bonham Carter (as Nellie Lovett), sells meat pies made with the human carcasses Depp provides. "And baby makes three" when Depp and Ms. Bonham Carter "adopt" gin-swigging young teenager Edward "Ed" Sanders (as Tobias "Toby" Ragg), after making tasty mince meat out of his swarthy guardian, Sacha Baron Cohen (as Adolfo Pirelli).

Subtitled "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", director Tim Burton's "Sweeny Todd" is more horror opera than Broadway musical. The promotional material says it "has been hailed as a masterpiece by critics and audiences everywhere." Now, that's going too far, in this case - but, you know Burton and Depp are going to be attached to something visually arresting, and is certainly so. There is, at least, masterpiece-caliber work from the likes of Colleen Atwood, Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo, and Dariusz Wolski, who will hopefully continue to be seen among the outstanding Burton/Depp crews.

******* Sweeney Todd (12/3/07) Tim Burton ~ Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Jamie Campbell Bower, Ed Sanders

Good dark fun.

I knew nothing of this movie except Tim Burton and Johnny Depp had something to do with it, and that, as the executive director put it, there was "lots of blood". I don't think of myself as liking musicals, although I should probably reconsider now.

I had a moment of dread when the movie started and there was a mention of Sacha Baron Cohen being in it. However his performance was in fact quite good. While his acting has a few things in common with his over-the-top Borat character, it somehow fits rather well within the movie.

Some elements of the plot are rather predictable, in a Greek tragedy sort of way, but it doesn't really detract from the movie. We get to enjoy the downward spiral even though we know its shape.

All in all, the movie was awesome, filled with damned and hopeless characters that still made you laugh at every turn.

I approached Sweeney Todd with trepidation, having been underwhelmed with most of Tim Burton's recent output and every screen musical of the last decade. The biggest problem I have with Burton's films is that his screenplays rarely manage to pull their disparate elements into a satisfying whole. Here, despite adapting the material to his own sensibilities and shortening the play by an hour, he adheres closely to Sondheim's book, resulting in the most dramatically satisfying film Burton has ever made.

I liked the adaptation of the off-off Broadway Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but have been left underwhelmed by all the recent big budget film musicals, so I'm glad to say that Sweeney Todd, wipes the floor with every major screen musical of the last decade, including the likable if over extended Hairspary. Most surprising is how shockingly gruesome the the film becomes in the second half. This must be the most blood drenched film since Shogun Assassin, with arteries spurting blood like like fountains as throats are cut, with the violence escalating towards the end leading towards a climax that is exhilarating, heartbreaking and satisfyingly bleak.

Unlike the dreary dirges Danny Elfman supplied for Burton's stop frame musicals, Sondheim's score is a joy to listen to from beginning to end, its dark romanticism sometimes reminding me of Bernhard Herrmann, perfectly fitting what is both a musical and a horror film in equal measures.

Depp and Bonham Carter are both excellent and it's down to their performances that I never quite lost sympathy with them in their descent into madness, blood lust and cannibalism.

Musical haters may not be converted as 75% percent of the dialogue is sung, but this completely dispatches any notion of cloying sentimentally the genre is often associated with.

As a fan of the original stage version of this grimly Gothic tale, going into Sweeney Todd was bittersweet in my hopes and expectations. However, I'm pleased to announce that I did find Burton's latest effort impressive and intentional. Fans of the original won't be disappointed with a top-notch cast and the wonderfully dark overtures that haunt every minute of Sweeney Todd. Tim Burton, one of the masters of ambiance, sets his atmosphere in the grisly streets of a depressed London and his artistry punctures through every scene of screen time. I would have to clarify that, while Johnny Depp is a skilled actor, fans of the original will find it hard to believe that Depp has the ability to transform into the George Hearn "Sweeny" we've come to know. This is in fact true and recognized by Burton. In this respect, the character of Depp is not played as the same manner as the deep-voiced, towering Todd from the musical adaptation. Depp's is more of a less boisterous and thoughtful one. The vocal performances are great but have a different approach and feel to them. It was a refreshing adaptation and I feel a triumph on the part of Burton for making a stage-to-screen experience that captures you from it's bloody introduction.

Despite the grim expectations from the story synopsis, the film delivers gore in a surprisingly tasteful way. There are no screaming teenagers running from a lunatic; instead we get a somewhat British blend of satire, slapstick and just "wrong" humor. Although I'm not much of a Johnny Depp fan, I enjoyed his performance as well as Helena Bonham Carter's. Even the portrayal of the common clients was stunning.

Despite being generally familiar with the story, I fell into some traps expecting specific twists, yet something different (and better) being delivered. This is a model of how to do dark humor that filmmakers should and probably will follow. It is most refreshing. Don't read the story and don't read any spoilers until you've seen it.