Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

A very long two hours

martinw from Cardiff , 23/01/2008

Ok, I went in not thinking and hadn't twigged it was a musical, and I loathe musicals, so it was never going to be good for me. But even so, this seems a particularly bad example of the genre. Depp sings like a bad Bowie impersonator (think Phil Cornwell) and the songs are weak. When he and Rickman are singing about pretty women I couldn't restrain my laughter.

My general gripe with musicals is that the songs just get in the way - they don't move the narrative along, so you're just waiting for them to finish and get back to the real film. This is particularly true with this film. But it looks good, and when they're not arseing about with duff songs, it is engaging and enjoyable enough. It's just those songs....

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Burton and Sondheim - a perfect match!

Meako from Sheffield [Highly rated reviewer] , 21/01/2008

Adapted from the Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler musical of the same name, Sweeney Todd is a powerful tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and bloody murder in the heart of London in the late 19th Century. What better director to bring the Tony Award winning stage show to the screen than Tim Burton. His style and vision on film sets the perfect gothic framework for the story to unveil. Wrongly accused of a crime, and sent away for life, a young barber named Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) awaits the day he can return and get revenge on those who wrongly convicted him. The film begins with him arriving in London in the company of a young sailor named Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), where he quickly seeks out his old home. There he finds Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), the purveyor of the worst pies in London, who tells him that his wife was raped by the very judge who sent Barker down, Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), and his daughter Johanna (Jayne Wisener) has become the Judge's ward. Meanwhile Anthony has too found Johanna, and has fallen in love with her, only to be beaten off by the Judge and his henchman, Beadle (Timothy Spall). From here a tale of terrible revenge begins, which leads to murder and pies. This is not Burton's first step into the territory of a musical, having been the brains behind two celebrated animated musicals, Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride, so it is safe to say the material is in good hands. Indeed, his very visual style is sutied to late 19th Century settings perfectly, and complements the film with sumptuous framing and gothic architecture surroundings. For his leads Burton has smartly stuck with those he knows well, and they don't disappoint. Depp's portrayal of Todd is menacing, chilling, but with a sparkly of heartfelt emotion behind the sinister eyes. Bonham Carter also manages to show varying facets of Lovett's persona throughout, managing to make you despise her whilst also sympathising with her throughout. The music in the film is marvellous, and was deserving of the many awards heaped on it over the years. Sondheim's musical arcs and movements switch from dark to light effortlessly, and rather than seeming like the characters are forced to sing the words, it is easy to accept that the words are naturally flowing from the characters. Todd conveys trickles of menace in every line of his verses, none more than when he sings to his knives, whilst Lovett sings a twisted tale of devotion and obsession. The blood flows in the film, and towards the latter half there are some bloody moments. However the squeamish amongst us shouldn't worry too much as the whole circus is given a 'Hammer Horror' styling with the blood being bright red and copious in nature - giving a darkly comical touch to each death. It is not only here where the comedy lies, as the lyrics of the songs are scattered with puns and quips, some so sly that you don't quite acknowledge them until later. This is certainly a film I will be watching again, and again, and again, and is one of Burton's finest moments.

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A cut below

A customer from Livingston , 18/01/2008

A poor second to the non-musical BBC Ray Winston version. Rent this one and

I dare you ever to sit in a Barber's chair again.

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You'll never eat meat pies again

Vivacia from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 24/01/2008

Similar to Tim Burton's other works, 'Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' is dark, bloody, deals with loss and pain... and is a musical. A proper musical. From the opening salvo to the closing scene all the cast get their vocal chords out (metaphorically and sometimes literally) and give it all they've got. So if you don't like musicals you may want to check out the BBC adaptation, which doesn't include any singing. But you would be missing out on one of the weirdest, darkest, most striking films of recent years.

Anyone familiar with Tim Burton's works will have a general idea of what to expect. If you've never 'got' his twisted take on tales then be warned that 'Sweeney Todd' is no exception. We begin by meeting the eponymous hero upon his return to London seeking his revenge on the judge who sent him away on a false charge fifteen years previously. But Sweeney has no hesitations when it comes to killing anyone and everyone that gets in his way. Which is useful for the house owner Mrs. Lovett and her pie shop downstairs...

Full of violence, laughs and blood (reminscent of the syrupy stuff used in Hammer Horror movies) 'Sweeney Todd' is not for the faint hearted. And as the songs are pretty constant throughout it will also have trouble satisfying the classic 'gore' crowd who may be put off by all the tunes. Also there is a lull during the film, as the middle doesn't come close to matching the striking beginning or the frenetic ending. But these are more than made up for by the outstanding performances from Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, who play such vile and evil individuals so well you can't help but like them and hope they get away with it. This does mean that other characters tend to disappear into the background and the time they are on screen seems rather dull in comparison.

This isn't Burton's best but it certainly isn't his worst and is an excellent film if you give it a chance. The visuals are amazing, with a brilliantly simple colour scheme (black, grey and red - lots of red), alongside the dark humour running throughout and the performaces he gets from his leads all add up to make 'Sweeney Todd' an experience you wouldn't want to miss.

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You'll never eat meat pies again

Vivacia from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 24/01/2008

Similar to Tim Burton's other works, 'Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' is dark, bloody, deals with loss and pain... and is a musical. A proper musical. From the opening salvo to the closing scene all the cast get their vocal chords out (metaphorically and sometimes literally) and give it all they've got. So if you don't like musicals you may want to check out the BBC adaptation, which doesn't include any singing. But you would be missing out on one of the weirdest, darkest, most striking films of recent years.

Anyone familiar with Tim Burton's works will have a general idea of what to expect. If you've never 'got' his twisted take on tales then be warned that 'Sweeney Todd' is no exception. We begin by meeting the eponymous hero upon his return to London seeking his revenge on the judge who sent him away on a false charge fifteen years previously. But Sweeney has no hesitations when it comes to killing anyone and everyone that gets in his way. Which is useful for the house owner Mrs. Lovett and her pie shop downstairs...

Full of violence, laughs and blood (reminscent of the syrupy stuff used in Hammer Horror movies) 'Sweeney Todd' is not for the faint hearted. And as the songs are pretty constant throughout it will also have trouble satisfying the classic 'gore' crowd who may be put off by all the tunes. Also there is a lull during the film, as the middle doesn't come close to matching the striking beginning or the frenetic ending. But these are more than made up for by the outstanding performances from Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, who play such vile and evil individuals so well you can't help but like them and hope they get away with it. This does mean that other characters tend to disappear into the background and the time they are on screen seems rather dull in comparison.

This isn't Burton's best but it certainly isn't his worst and is an excellent film if you give it a chance. The visuals are amazing, with a brilliantly simple colour scheme (black, grey and red - lots of red), alongside the dark humour running throughout and the performaces he gets from his leads all add up to make 'Sweeney Todd' an experience you wouldn't want to miss.

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Annoying

A customer from London , 26/02/2008

I found this film too musical, not like The Sound of Music or Oliver where there's some acting and a few songs added in - this is about 80% music with virtually no real acting. After about the first 15 mins I was clock-watching. I was so disappointed as I expected a fantastic performance from Johnny Depp, and I'm afraid to say that singing definitely isn't his strong point! Can you really call it a movie if there's no acting?

One a positive note, the storyline was good with a nice twist at the end so it's not all bad if you can put up with the dodgy singing.

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