Sweeney Todd

Grade: B+
"Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street" - this years hit Broadway show turned Hollywood blockbuster - is Tim Burton's third take on a musical, the first that he himself had not written. Starring Burton's keynote actor and actress Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in the title roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett.

In a movie filled with plenty of blood and gore, the main storyline is quite sentimental. Todd, formally Mr. Benjamin Barker of Fleet Street, had been outcast from London by the jealous and malicious Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman,) Turpin's desire for Barker's wife - Lucy - was so insatiable that Turpin created false charges as a way to send Barker away (a la The Count of Monte Cristo.) After Lucy's apparent suicide Turpin takes Barker's daughter, Johanna (played by the beautiful Jayne Wisener,) as his Ward. All Todd wants/wanted was to come home and get on his the life he once knew.

Upon his return to London, after 15 years at sea, Barker returns under the new guise of Sweeney Todd, and quickly realizes how drastically 15 years abroad can change the landscape of what he thought was a perfect life. Finding his old homestead taken over by a Meat Pie shop owned by one Mrs. Lovett, a woman who could not keep a kitchen clean to save her life or cook for that matter. Mrs. Lovett quickly realizes who Todd really is and tells him the sad story of his wife drinking poison and the Judge taking his daughter as his own driving Todd to seek out his revenge and get back all that was taken from him, while taking up his old hobby of being a barber.

"Sweeney Todd" is nothing out of the ordinary as far as the way the film was shot. What is surprising about this big screen adaptation is the fact that Depp and Carter both sing their parts, and quite well. Depp's voice is very raw, but considering he'd never tried operatic singing before, he did a pretty admirable job. Carter's voice however sounds wonderful, but comes off as a bit too airy at times and is hard to understand at times. There are even a few shocks when we hear a duet with Depp and Rickman's characters in the song "Pretty Women."

The set design is very well done and quite elaborate, taking place mainly in Todd's/Lovett's home where on the lower level Mrs. Lovett sells the "worst pies in London" and Todd gives the "closest shave you will ever know." Every now and then we get a glimpse outside and see Judge Turpin's home where he keeps Johanna. Also an amusing scene where Turpin sentences a boy no more than 10 years old to the gallows for his multiple crimes and his "inability to learn his lesson."

The movie is very much not for the squeamish, or weak of heart. The first time Todd slits a throat with his "friends"/razors is quite drawn out with his arm becoming drenched in the victim's blood. Along with an entire montage during the "Johanna" reprise of Todd slitting about 10-15 customer's throats. But don't think that Todd is without mercy; he does allow one customer to live who comes in with his family.

The supporting singers/actors are also very memorable. Supporting actor Jamie Campbell Bower plays Anthony Hope, the sailor who sailed with Todd for an undisclosed amount of time. Youngster Ed Sanders plays Toby, a young man who was bought from a work shop by the Italian barber Signor Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen [known best for his work as Ali G, and Borat,]) a con-man with a "miracle grow" elixir.

The biggest drawback is within the makeup done by Paul Gooch makes Depp look very much like Edward Scissorhands from the movie of the same title, Depp's first film with buddy/director Tim Burton.

With his newfound ability in the musical arts, Depp may be a shoo in for his first Golden Globe in the "Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy" category in the upcoming Golden Globes going up against Ryan Gosling (Lars and the Real Girl,) Tom Hanks (Charlie Wilson's War,) Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Savages,) and John C. Reilly (Walk Hard the Dewey Cox Story.)

"Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street" opened at #5 at the box office bringing in $9.35 million for the weekend of Dec. 21 - 23 .