Review of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) by David L — 26 Jun 2016

Tim Burton.  Expect dark.  And Sweeney Todd is dark.  Poor Sweeney once known as Benjamin Barker wrongfully imprisoned and taken away from his beautiful wife and young daughter returns years later to London.  Upon arrival his only concern is revenge upon the man who wrongfully imprisoned him, Judge Turpin.  He shacks up above Mrs. Lovett's pie shop moonlighting as a barber.  His first victim, Pirelli, masterfully played by Sacha Baron Cohen recognizes Todd from the old days thus he meets his doom.  When Todd misses ending the judge's life by a hair he constructs a plan to murder his way to the judge with Mrs. Lovett baking the remains of his victims into meat pies.  After all the price of meat being what it is...

The side story deals with young Anthony's love for Johanna (Todd's daughter) who is sent to any asylum for refusing to marry her adoptive father, again the evil Judge Turpin.  Anthony eventually rescues Johanna during a phenomenal scene in which the warden of the asylum gets what's coming to him at the hands of his patients.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Lovett who is madly in love with Todd coddles young Toby (Pirelli's former assistant now in the employ of Mrs. Lovett) then locks him in the meat cellar after he finds out Todd's secret.  Being the woman who swore she could make a better wife than his Lucy ever could, Mrs. Lovett didn't disclose the whole truth about Lucy saying before she poisoned herself.  Though Mrs. Lovett swears she did in a way we soon find Lucy was alive roaming the streets as a beggar woman.  Unfortunately Todd had just killed her for discovering his secret.  Mrs. Lovett's fate is sealed in a rather gruesome scene as Todd pushes her into the pie oven.  He cradles his now dead wife and young Toby slices Todd's throat with his own blade.  He did get his judge only moments before and nearly killed Johanna as well.  But I suppose it ended well for Johanna and Anthony; at least we can only hope.

This film is dark yes.  The camera pans out after Todd moves in and the cityscape for as bleak as it is looks amazing.  When Todd and Mrs. Lovett shop it seems as if Burton purposefully picked fruits and vegetables of somber colors.  You won't find bright red and green apples here, kids.  Pirelli's introduction is brilliant and was one of many surprisingly funny moments in the flick though our audience couldn't seem to find humor in much of anything.  I envy someone who can roll his "r"s with such elegance.  Dex mimicked it pretty well in the car.  Young Johanna has only one full song "Green Finch & Linnett Bird" and after that you can see why Jayne Wisener was cast.  Her voice is high enough to cut glass but it's beautiful, simply beautiful.  I read Bonham Carter underwent voice lessons for her role as pie maker, Mrs. Lovett.  They paid off.  The scene featuring the song "Not While I'm Around" is one of the most heartbreaking as adorable little Toby professes his gratitude for Mrs. Lovett moments before she locks him in the pie cellar.  The costumes are amazing!  Johanna starts off with slight color and her costumes grow darker as her situation worsens.  Truly Cohen's blue ensemble stands out amongst the somber scenery and Todd's daily wear equipped with holsters for his "friends" is to awe.  To match Todd's dark daily wear Mrs. Lovett dresses in equally dreary shades though her dresses are quite covetous.  I will see if I can make one for myself.  I don't care what anyone says about nepotism, Bonham Carter molded herself into Mrs. Lovett perfectly.  My favorite scene by far was Mrs. Lovett's dream sequence in which she imagines herself marrying Todd envisioning their life together.  Depp is beyond brilliant in that scene.

Deserving of his own paragraph is master thespian, Johnny Depp.  Depp was once known throughout Hollywood as being quite selective with his film roles.  That may have changed with his stint as a Pirate; however, here Depp returns to those roles that few would attempt and again saddles up with Burton to bring an already dark musical to the stark masses.  Todd's revenge has consumed him so that the only thing that brings a smile to his face is any thought of said revenge.  This is evident in every step Depp makes as Todd.  He is calloused, hardened by his revenge that his grief viewed as a weak emotion is pushed to the very back of his mind.  This comes through in Depp's performance and if you miss it it's very apparent in Mrs. Lovett's dream sequence.  A good deal of Depp's singing is spoken.  I don't know if the stage version is like this but Depp pulls it off switching between spoken, singing and the coarse grinding of his vocals at the heights of his passion (for revenge that is).  That last part is done very very well.  You have to hear it to know what I'm talking about so get your hands on the soundtrack if you can.  I don't know whether I should or shouldn't be surprised by this but Depp can sing.  It's hard to feel sorry for someone who soul has been killed by vengeance that he continues his killing spree hacking his way though his wife, his one object of desire.  I think you feel a little bit sorry for him not much a little.  You can thank Depp's masterful performance for that I am certain.  For one who chooses his roles well he won again as it seems Sweeney Todd was written for him; he embodies the character so well.

If you read through this having not seen the film please by all means watch Sweeney Todd.  If you couldn't tell from the paragraphs above I wholeheartedly recommend this film.  It's will be worth every penny spent and every drop of blood spilled to get your hands on those pennies.