AML Movie Review: “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Mike December 22nd, 2007 Features, Movies, Reviews

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has one interesting aspect going for it:

Either it will cure your fear of having your neck sliced open by a barber, or else it will make it worse.

What did it do for me? I’m not quite sure, but I’m glad I visited the barbershop BEFORE I saw this on Friday morning.

Sweeney Todd stars Johnny Depp (as Todd) and Helena Bonham Carter, in a beautifully evil film directed by the master of creepy, Tim Burton.

By beautifully evil, I just mean, this film looked, sounded and felt exactly like it should have. Dark, bloody, dirty and demonic. The cinematography was superb, the costumes top-notch and the set designs awesome. In particular, the barbershop Todd sets up in is spooky and not someplace I’d try for the first time without a HIGH recommendation.

And in this movie, there really wasn’t anyone left to recommend it.

Sweeney Todd was formerly known as Benjamin Barker, who returns to London after being in prison for 15 years. He was put there wrongly by Judge Turpin, who coveted his wife and had the police take Barker into custody.

When Barker returns, he calls himself Sweeney Todd and looks nothing like he used to, completely dark and evil. He meets Mrs. Lovett (Carter) who runs a meat shop that gets little to no business, and who bakes her pies out of cat and other atrocities.

Todd decides to open his own shop, to get revenge on everyone who has done him wrong, using the tools of his trade: Silver barber razors.

First and foremost, this movie is a musical. I hope most people realize that before going because I saw two walk out midway through my showing. It is based off a Broadway show.

It’s not only a musical, but there is a LOT of music being sung.

Johnny Depp is actually pretty good and I am always amazed at how great actors can suddenly turn grand singer when called upon, like Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge. Alan Rickman and Carter also do an admirable job.

It’s definitely no Rent or Chicago, but it was good.

The best thing this movie has going for it is Depp of course. He’s seriously one of the most amazing actors of our time. To go from playing a drunk pirate to an evil, serial killing barber is pretty remarkable. He is perfectly cast, in fact, I could think of no other who could pull it off.

The other thing people need to know about this movie other than the music, is that it’s BLOODY. Not only blood, but gore and all other things gross. Oh yes, if you fear watching necks being sliced open and high amounts of blood squirting out, then you might be like me and the two older ladies in front of me.

None of the three of us could see these scenes without partially covering our eyes (me) or wincing (them).

I wanted to see this film because of all the talk about it being fantastic and the performance by Johnny Dell being Oscar-worthy.

But I have to say I was disappointed. Not that it probably wasn’t a great musical, or that Depp didn’t rock the house as always, but it was just so dark and bloody, it kind of turned me off.

That and the predictability of the movie kind of bored me. The first 30-40 minutes I found myself looking at my watch, thinking “this is a lot of music.” But it did pick up in the second half when the real blood started being spilled.

Yet even though I never saw the Broadway play or knew much about it, I figured out how it would end and one twist so early on that the ending wasn’t great for me.

The best part of the movie for me was a little number where Depp and Carter try to figure out what to do with a dead body. There was some comedy in that song and it worked really well.

The next best thing was his barber duel with Sacha Baron Cohen, from Borat fame.

But for the most part, it was just okay for me. It’s worth viewing for the die-hard movie fan, but a normal movie goer might get turned off by the blood and gore.

AML Rating: B-

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