Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I've repeatedly commented on my distaste for the movie musical (and I suspect the musical as well though I've never seen one). So it does constantly amaze me every time I get it in my head to go see one. I'm almost always disappointed though on rare occasions when it goes for more unconventional approaches I find myself pleasantly surprised. But as a rule the idea of people breaking out into spontaneous song and dance is just a bit too much for me to handle without laughing inappropriately at its absurdity.

Sweeney Todd is based on a musical by Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim's story is not a very traditional one as it deals with mass murder and cannibalism. Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) is newly arrived in London having been sent off to prison unjustly years before by a jealous judge (Alan Rickman) who coveted Todd's wife. Todd has only one desire: revenge. He concocts a plan with the aid of Mrs. Bennett (Helena Bonham Carter) that will benefit them both. Todd will be able to do his part to rid the world of the vermin, Bennet's business will boom because the quality of the "meat" in her pies will bring in the customers.

This is a bloody film. Oh my is this a bloody film. Now I found most of the blood to be comic in its absurdity (my poor mother for whom I feel bad for dragging along to the film didn't think it so fun). Still the blood and the plot are so deliciously absurd that I couldn't help but smile for most of the film. And oh yeah, there is some singing. But honestly I didn't really mind. I honestly got caught up in the story. Rickman, Depp and Carter are all delightful in their respective roles and Sacha Baron Cohen continues to impress with another great comic role as a rival barber.

Burton directs here and in its look it is classic Burton. Dark sets, dirty streets and a generally macabre world. This is the perfect look for this story. A dark dirty London that deserves everything it gets from its murderous duo of Todd and Bennett. The film begins and ends with Todd and his dark world and therefore we are left without a resolution to the innocents of the film and I think its fantastic for that.