Now That’s Some Tasty Pie … Was That a Fingernail?

The blood, the blood! After a few minutes with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I was surprised that this film was considered graphic. After a few more minutes I was not surprised at all! What I was finally surprised with was a musical that I actually liked. However, Sweeney Todd is not your ordinary musical.

Going into this film I had two things on my side: I’m not familiar with the original and I hate most musicals. Sweeney Todd took me away from the safe side of My Fair Lady and took me to gruesome murder and Johnny Depp singing. Even though this is now my second favorite musical (Once is top if you consider it a musical), it was not the best film. I hate to say it, but without Johnny Depp this film would have been bad. No matter how much darkness Tim Burton creates, Depp is the reason for watching this one.

One of my major dislikes from the film was that I could not stand the side narrative of Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Johanna (Jayne Wisener). I just couldn’t get behind the love story, in fact I was glad to see that most of this story was just a set-up. Not that I’m against love stories, just ones where the two lovers act like foppish idiots. Oh let me take you away, and then we can go skipping in the daisies. I much prefered the love story between Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp), Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham-Carter), and Lucy, Todd’s lost love who supposedly died. No more secrets, but I saw it coming from a mile away. I like the fact the Lovett just can’t win over Todd’s heart.

The story itself is interesting, if not a bit overdone. I was slightly annoyed by the ending (only one thing bugged me but you’ll just have to email me to discuss it), but I thought it moved along at a nice pace. Sweeney Todd’s madness and final step into murder is brilliant, especially the chair making scene. However I wonder if Todd could actually make the chair let alone saw through the floor in such a precise manner. The loosely held together side stories slowly become intertwined, which is why the ending acts more like a Usual Suspects ending. You are given all of the key points to figure everything out.

Now on to Johnny and his co-stars. I am now a firm believer that Depp is one of the greatest living actors. I didn’t even mind his singing. In fact, it fit his roles perfectly. Imagine a heartbroken barber set on revenge who has been gone for 15 years and living in the worst envrinmental setting of London. I think the deeper scratchy voice works well. Bonham-Carter even pulls it off a bit, with less interesting results but it wasn’t horrible. But Depp has a way of overshadowing everyone else. That is never more apparant that when he rediscovers his “friends.” Two other performances of note, Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) and Signor Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen). Rickman has a knack for playing a bad guy while Cohen proves that he can work outside of his off kilter comedy. I was not so enthralled by Bower’s performance of the love sick puppy. He grated on me, I admit it. Perhaps his lack of range came from a clear goal for his character or just than he wasn’t terribly good.

Sweeney Todd provided me with some fun, but yet grim, entertainment. I doubt I’ll watch it again, but it was a nice departure from a more traditional film. In the end, the reason to watch this film is Johnny Depp. And perhaps Helena Bonham-Carter’s revealing outfits.