Review

Johnny Depp stars as Benjamin Barker. Framed for a crime he did not commit, he is exhiled to Australia, losing his wife and daughter to a corrupt judge in the process. Upon returning to glorious London, Sweeney partners up with pie-maker Mrs. Lovett for a tasty, blood-filled revenge.

Ok, first thing's first: I thought this movie would suck more than Anna Nicole at a Chippendales event. I knew the play and I knew the story, but the concept was just one of those I dreaded having to see. Not because if it sucked it would affect me in some way, but because I would be heartbroken for a Burton / Depp collaboration to go down the cinematic toilet. You have a story that is vicious and violent in nature, a mad barber returns to exact vengeance on the judge who wronged him slitting many throats along the way, mixed with a frickin' musical?!? Yea, that's essentially what Sweeney Todd is about and these are dangerous waters to be wading into. Not to mention that I am not a very big fan of musicals to begin with. Everything about this project just SCREAMED campy to me. All I could envision was the Rocky Horror Picture Show modernized. I am extremely happy to report that Sweeney Todd whupped my expectations and was a riveting and mesmerizing experience!

Sweeney Todd begins with the title character (Johnny Depp) returning to London after years in exhile. Sweeney used to go by the name of Benjamin Barker, a well-respected barber with a beautiful wife and daughter. After a corrupt Judge Turpin (the deliciously wicked Alan Rickman) discovers the Mrs., he frames Barker in order to get him out of his way. His wife loses her way after her husband is taken away and the Judge takes ward of their daughter, Johanna.

Todd first makes a point to go after the Judge, finding solace in a local pie-maker, Mrs. Lovetts (Helena Bonham Carter). When the judge slips through Todd's fingers, he decides to punish the whole of London by slaughtering its many evil souls until he gets one more chance with the Judge. Mrs. Lovett, meanwhile, disposes of the evidence by crafting scrumptious little "meat pies" for the rest of London to consume.

Seriously a musical! Oh wait it was actually good

Of course there are a couple of little side trips with Todd's daughter falling for a follower of Todds', the Judge wanting to marry Johanna as well (this little pixie is quite popular), the little orphan Mrs. Lovett takes into her care, and a competition that gets down right nasty with a fellow barber (the uniquely talented Sacha Baron Cohen). These little side trips are entertaining, but Todd's plight of revenge is the main push and you never forget it.

Ok, I must say that Johnny Depp deserves an Oscar. I know, people are going to trumpet Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood or Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men, but think about this: Once you see this movie, you can picture Depp playing either one of those roles without a problem. You will NOT be able to picture either of those two playing Sweeney Todd. This is a ballsy choice even for a guy known for his ballsy choices. Todd is one of those choices that could teeter over to ludicrous any given second or descend into camp with the wrong delivery of a single line, and yet Depp holds the screen masterfully. This has got to be the first movie star in history who has gotten famous from doing all of the wrong things. Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Benny & Joon, Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, even Pirates - none of those films or characters screamed anything resembling quality or respectability. And yet he seems to pull it off every time, and this time it was probably the biggest chance I have yet to see him take. Give the man his well-deserved Oscar.

Depp is not a born singer and for the film, he really doesn't need to be. This story cries out for someone to act the music, not sing the bejesus out of it and Depp pulls that off with flying colors. Even what would seem a silly song, "˜My Friends", a number explaining Todd's glee at finding his old blades, is eerily dramatic in Depp's hands. He takes every song and lyric literally and interjects true emotion into even the most absurd situations, thereby helping us buy it. A truly remarkable feat and I continue to marvel at the man that began his career in Beverly Hills Cop 90210.

Though Depp obviously carries the film, the film would still falter if his supporting cast wasn't so damn good. Helena Bonham Carter is no singer either, but she carriers her lyrics with such a breathy, uppity England flare that you're sucked in by her character. Hell, she's so good you start to sympathize with the woman carving up corpses into pies for the general public! I have long thought Carter was a damn sexy woman, mostly because she seems the type that would punish you in disturbingly interesting ways, but here she comes across almost matronly. Baron Cohen, though only in the film for a small role, is a man that belongs in musical theater. Even his famous creation Borat, which was ridiculously absurd, had a touch of the musical flare deep in his bones. Cohen can sing and act and by god this guy could handle his own rendition of West Side Story or something. Excellent casting there.

And then there is Alan Rickman as the Judge. Ok, Rickman is my favorite bad guy of all time. Hans Gruber kicks righteous ass. Hell, even in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he was a great bad guy. What I am saying is, when you need a flamboyant villain, Rickman should be on every casting Director's speed dial. That said, this role scared the shit out of me because I could not picture Rickman singing and dancing. Thankfully, he has only a portion of one song (which he did just fine, by the way) and the rest of his role is just being Rickman really. Love this man and would gladfully pay to watch his interpretation of my local yellow pages if it kept him working.

Generally in musicals, the songs are a break from the story or tell a small piece of the story while singing some catchy ditty and dancing like an idiot; hence why they bore the shit outta me. Here, the music IS the story. Every lyric, every look, tells the story of Sweeney Todd and his plight. There is no dancing, thank the LORD, but when the words are sung, the actions the characters take actually fit what they are singing about. It was so nice to watch a musical and not see some dumbass doing a 2-step for no good reason. None of the music in ST is really that catchy, it is here to tell the story and that is it. At first I was a little off-put by this, but after about 20 minutes I began to see where they were going and was in awe for the rest of the film. Bravo, Stephen Sondheim, bravo.

For the final section, let's discuss Tim Burton's part in all of this. While the story itself would lend a thought to Burton, the musical part of it would make a normal film fan go WTF?! Burton can sell dark and dreary, but can he sell musical theater? Blood soaked musical numbers? The answer is yes. In fact, I think any other Director would have easily lost their way and turned this into a camp fest, as I was worried about. Burton kept everything feeling real. He knows how to shoot horror, and he knew what he wanted out of this film. Every drop of blood (of which there is a LOT, throats are slashed heavily) is used artistically and almost becomes a character themselves. I have read in numerous articles that Burton is really not a fan of musicals. After seeing Sweeney Todd, I realized what a plus this is. Burton made a musical for people who do not like them, a refreshing take and one that I found to love. He staged every number not with zest and theatrical glee, but as another arc to the story itself. It is very hard to explain, but when you see the film, you will understand. Burton has one more notch in his belt and thankfully did not make another Planet of the Apes with a soundtrack.

To paraphrase, go see Sweeney Todd. I do think this is one of those love it or hate it type films and I obviously landed on the love-it side. If you think it looks ridiculous, well so did I, good reader. Depp continues to amaze and Burton pulls off the rare feat of a musical horror film without any of the campy aftertaste. This is a pretty bloody, R-rated film so don't take the kids expecting to see Captain Jack, unless you want them to see Jack as a morbid singing serial killer. This is a film that I found simply mesmerizing all the way through, and I am not even a fan of musicals. Go now, before you need a shave.