Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (DVD, 2008)

I wasn't sure I was going to like this movie when I first watched it. I'm not that into musicals but I love Tim Burton's movies and since I love horror movies, I decided to take a chance. I'm glad I did because this is truly an awesome movie.

It tells the story of a man named Benjamin Barker (played by Johnny Depp). He was a barber with a lovely wife and baby daughter who lived in London. The jealous Judge Turpin (played by Alan Rickman) arrests Barker and sends him away to a prison far away and attempts to garner Mrs. Barker's affection. Some 15 years (give or take a few years) later, Barker returns to London a changed man, donning the name of Sweeney Todd and has only one thing on his mind: revenge.

He takes the room above Mrs. Lovett's Pie Shop (Mrs. Lovett being played by Helena Bonham Carter), famous for the worst pies in London. Mrs. Lovett knows who Todd is from the past and has always had a soft spot for him. Todd winds up killing a man who threatened to reveal who he once was and Mrs. Lovett comes up with an idea for getting rid of the body. She is desperate for meat to fit in her meat pies... the answer: put the murdered man into her meat pies. The pies turn out to be a big seller.

To make a long story short, Todd uses his skills as a barber to entice Judge Turpin into his shop so he could take his revenge for falsely imprisoning him for so many years.

Highlighted by a wonderful score and some rather nicely written songs and a tale of young romance in the background. It is rather bloody but as I understand it, that is how the original stage play was. The only negative comments I could make are that I don't feel Helena Bonham Carter wasn't the best singer to cast as Mrs. Lovett and the romance between Johanna and Anthony felt like a secondary story that was thrown in as an after thought.

All in all this is a great movie.

Like many DVD buyers, I saw the movie in the theater first. Watching the film on Christmas Eve with my wife, I was immediately intrigued by the combination of gorgeous, downbeat tunes, vintage color cinematography and the acting talents of Johnny Depp, Helen Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman. I knew at once that I would buy the DVD when it came out and watch it more than once. I did and I have.

Now I'm told that this was not as good as the Broadway production but I don't care. I love the slight imperfections of Depp and Carter, as they add character to their songs. The actor's playing the young man and Joanna are both perfectly cast and add strength to the ensemble and as for singing, they certainly have polish. If you haven't heard the music from this movie/musical/almost opera, you'll be pleasantly surprised IF you enjoy music in minor keys with a decidedly sad edge (sometimes harshly misanthropic!), you'll enjoy this. Pieces like "Joanna" and "Pretty Women" are both ironic and toe-tappingly good. Each piece is both beautiful and tragic, as the personality of the vengefully obsesses Sweeney Todd haunts each song with the tragic twistedness of his plots to kill the man who wronged him, and many others beside. "We All Deserve to DIe" he sings, the bad because their bad, the good because they're better off dead rather than dealing with the evil in the world.

As for the cinematography, that for me is the most fascinating. It is definitely a Tim Burton film. This shows in the coloring of everything as if there were the famous London coal-smoke in the air, lending everything a muted coloring. Helen Bonham Carter, as Mrs. Lovett, is gorgeous but haunts the mind with the dark circles around her eyes. She reminds me of a living version of the fractured and living doll who is the Jack Skellington love interest in "Nightmare Before Christmas."

I should warn you about something you've probably already been warned. There is lots of brief but horrific scenes of throats being cut by the Demon Barber. I'm not a fan of gory movies by any means. However, these were an integral part of the story, and done with the haunting music to accompany them, I was strangely fascinated.

Finally, as much as I loved this film, let me tell you my wife's reaction that fateful Christmas Eve. "That was the strangest movie I've ever seen!" She liked it, but would not watch it again. As for me, I'll be watching it over and over. Plus, I purchased the soundtrack CD, and both my daughter and I have been listening to the music in our iPods.

Tim Burton's version of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is magnificent! I have already viewed it 5 times and I know I'll be viewing it many, many more. Johnny Depp is perfection. How in the world a man can be sexy while slashing throats with a barber's razor is beyond me, but he does. He always seems to truly understand his characters and the quirkier, the better. He is so believable that its unsettling at times. Pairing him with Helena Bonham Carter is genious. They belong together! So much so, that I hope they appear in many, many more movies. Just amazing chemistry.

Alan Rickman who plays the evil Judge Turpin, sets off a series of unimaginable events when his lust for a beautiful young woman causes him to send the young husband, played by Johnny Depp, away for over a decade on false charges. This causes extreme hardship on the young family and ultimately, collapse.

I don't want to reveal too much, the story actually begins when Benjamin Bark aka Sweeney Todd returns and decides to reek his revenge on the judge who destroyed everything he ever loved.

Not since West Side Story have I truly enjoyed a musical score as much as this one. Stephen Sondheim once again brings it to the table. I am still singing the lyrics. I cannot get them out of my head.

This movie is actually based on a true story about a barber who killed many, many people and teamed up with an equally mad woman who decided to create a very unique restaurant.

This is a very bloody movie. However, it's not excessive considering the facts.

I give this the highest possible rating. I love this movie.

Johnny Depp, Tim Burton and Helen Bonham-Carter. Brilliant. Need I say more? Well, of course...
Firstly, this is a very dark movie. Not for kids! Just because it's a musical, doesn't mean there are cats dancing around, or someone singing Hakuna Matata.
This musical is about a barber (who kills people for various reasons), the woman who wants to love the barber (who turns the people he kills into meat pies she sells), and the sad world they live in.

Johnny Depp is very talented, and it shows here. You can tell he gives 100% in this film (and pulls it off flawlessly). Helen Boham-Carter is equally brilliant as his co-star. Together they really do make this movie fantastic. All the actors and actresses in this movie are impressive, and believable. Some people have a hard time watching musicals, with songs to move the plot along..but this one is well made.

I specifically recommend this movie to anyone who's into horror films, even if they can't stand musicals..this one is not your typical show tune filled production!

This is another GREAT collabaration between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton (and Helena Bonham-Carter)!

You can tell our man Johnny really got into the part. (as usual) I had read that he stayed in character even when off the set and would walk around his big house in France singing and slashing at objects with a fake razor. I can see that...

The music is LOUD. I found myself constantly adjusting the volume on the remote. The music was overwhelming and at times I couldn't hear the dialogue.

It's bloody, to be sure. I like horror movies very much and am not particularly squeamish, but I had to look away or hide my eyes in my hands a few times. Shockingly graphic !

Johnny is a pretty good singer. Not a lot of range, but who cares?...

I highly recommend this film for ALL Johnny Depp fans and anybody over the age of 12 (on account of all the fake blood).

Pop a frozen beef pot pie in the oven a half hour before you sit down to watch this movie, so when Mrs. Lovett is singing about her homemade meat pies, you can experience that wholesome goodness !! Bon Appetite !