Review: Sweeney Todd

Poor tortured, demented Sweeney Todd. His story is not a happy one. He started out life as Benjamin Barker, a barber in London and is wrongly thrown into jail when a corrupt judge lusts after his beautiful wife. Once Benjamin is released from prison, he returns to the streets of London to seek out revenge under the name of Sweeney Todd. It all goes downhill from there.

Based off of the Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd marks the sixth collaboration between director, Tim Burton and actor, Johnny Depp. As an avid fan of both Burton and Depp, I am totally biased about the film. However, I thought it was amazing and that all the performances were spectacular. Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen are also a part of the talented cast. Bonham Carter masterfully plays Mrs. Lovett, the proprietor of the restaurant below Todd’s shop. She aids Todd by befriending him and helping him with his revenge. Rickman plays the lustful Judge Turpin and Cohen plays Pirelli, an apprentice of Benjamin Barker.

I found it fascinating that the actual development of this film began in the late 80s when Burton approached Sondheim about it. Although other projects took him away from Sweeney Todd at that time, Burton jumped at the chance to work on it in 2006 when another project fell apart. According to an article on Wikipedia, Burton was drawn to Sweeney Todd because of “the music and its sense of macabre”. Burton’s projects are classically dark and mysterious and my opinion is that no other film director could have captured the tone of Sweeney Todd like Burton.

The story, of course, is about revenge and Todd’s inner torment about his two lives. And with a name like Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, what else can you expect, but a gruesome tale about a serial killer? It is bloody, but Burton was going for a Kill Bill feel where the gore is present, but not about being bloody. It’s more about Sweeney’s release of anger and hate then how much blood is spilled. There were a few moments that made me cringe, but for the most part it seemed campy rather then authentic.

I will definitely be adding this movie to my collection when it is released on DVD. It exceeded my expectations in practically every way. It was beautiful and tragic done only the way Tim Burton can. I would highly recommend this film to any fan of Burton or Depp and would caution those against taking children to it. After all, how often is there is a movie-musical about a serial killer?