The film was directed by Tim Burton in his sixth collaboration with Johnny Depp. "Sweeney Todd also marked the fifth collaboration with Helena Bonham Carter. I'm really glad these three love each other. They work so well together. Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Sacha Baron Cohen finish of the main cast.
First of all I prefer to think of this film as a beautiful work of art. Which may be strange, given all the blood that sprays everywhere, but bear with me. Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd (originally Benjamin Barker), a barber. He used to be normal. Then Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) took everything from him. He raped Barker's wife, took his daughter, and has him exiled for 15 years for a crime he was innocent of. The years go by and Barker, now Sweeney Todd is getting his revenge. This revenge comes in the form of setting up his barber shop above "Mrs. Lovett's (Helena Bonham Carter) Meat Pies," and slitting the throats of whoever decides to come through, for a shave and what not. Together they turn Sweeney Todd's victims into nice little meat pies. This all culminates to probably the most depressing ending to a movie, which completely fits with the tone it establishes throughout. I am convinced that Tim Burton is the only director who could do justice to the story and the mood of "Sweeney Todd." It's his first and most likely last musical and that is perfectly fine, because he succeeded tremendously. Over the years "Sweeney Todd' went through tons of potential directors and actors. I'm so glad they waited though. The cast and crew they finally went with served the source material unbelievably well.
Overall, the movie has an incredibly dark tone. This is a Tim Burton movie we are talking about here. Dark and gothic is his specialty. Except for I think 2 scenes in "Sweeney Todd" everything is very darkly lit, people's skin is pale, and everything else is basiclly some shade of black or a dark color. Then we have the geysers of blood, spraying/cascading down people's throats to perfectly contrast with the dark colored scenes. The sets also are a important part of making the movie as good as it is and adding to the aforementioned tone. It looks just like Victorian London (since apparently now I'm an expert or something) and the camera at time quickly moves, rapidly throughout the entire city, making it visually stunning.
The cast is incredible. Many of them are used more than once in a Tim Burton film. Johnny Depp is brilliant as dark, psychotic characters, and Sweeney Todd is probably my favorite of his. Helena Bonham Carter, likewise is equally convincing. And both proved that they are good singers. The rest of the cast, like most movies I consider to be worth my time are also great. No need to comment further.
Now its time to talk about the music. First of all, who cares that people don't break into song in real life. Movies and plays are not real life and this is one of the creative things people are able to do with such mediums. And generally speaking the musical is my favorite movie genre. The music here is by Stephen Sondheim and it's incredible. It moves the plot along effortlessly and never feels out of place. This film included such memorable songs from the play, like "Worst Pies in London," "Epiphany", "Pretty Women", and "Not While I'm Around." The whole cast really come through when performing the challenging Sondheim music.
If you like musicals, you'll love this, unless it's too bloody for you. And even if you don't like musicals then you should give it a try, because it's also a horror/thriller movie. I could go on because I love this movie. I think my point was made, however. Everything about this movie in just incredible, and in my opinion Tim Burton's best.
-Joseph Sbrilli
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