Sweeney Todd review

So, a friend came over and we watched Sweeney Todd today. What? I can watch something other than Action or Sci-Fi. Anyway, it's a musical, based on the play, directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bohnam Carter.

My first thought is I love it when it goes from a dark lens to a bright lens, it's a great way of showing emotion. The movie, itself is show very dark, but the flash backs to the happy times are shot with a light lens, which, in contrast to the dark lens really conveys a sense of warmth. For those of you who don't know the story, the movie revolves around Sweeney Todd, a guy dragged from his wife and kid by an evil judge, played by the immortal voice of God, Alan Rickman. Upon the barber's return, he meets up with a chef, failing at making meat pies. (It must be an English thing, I've never been a fan of those.) The barber is told his wife is dead, and his daughter is held captive by the judge. After establishing himself in the town, Sweeney Todd goes on a rampage, give people "the closest shave of their life" and killing anyone in his wife, in preparation for those that wronged him in the past. The dead bodies are sent down to the bakery for meat for the meat pies, which become a hit (I guess the original story was done before Soylent Green?!?)

First off, the story itself is very dark, I mean its about a barber killing people and chopping them up for meat pies. When you think dark, Tim Burton often comes to mind. However, the problem I notice is, once you have seen one Tim Burton movie, you've seen them all, from a production and direction standpoint. The hair, makeup, set design and filming are all done the exact same. (For the origin of the inspiration, use the IMDB searchbar at the bottom of my blog, and look up The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) Something else I noticed, having watched the movie, this makes me really want to see how the play is done. The music and songs in this movie were great, and some of the scenes really make me wonder how it's done onstage.

Over all, I enjoyed this movie. The singing by Johnny Depp was adequete, Helena Bohnam Carter was tremendous, and the story was very Shakespearean, and quite enjoyable. I really enjoyed the shooting of this movie. Be warned, this is a very disturbing movie, not for the faint of heart, but worth the rent. I give it a 6 out of 10.

FUN FACT: The address on Mrs. Lovett's shop -- Number 186 -- is a reference to the London legend of Sweeney Todd, which placed his barber shop at this very address.