Rating of
3.5/4
Sweeney Todd - Review
Matthew Brady - wrote on 08/08/14
"There was a barber and his wife, and she was beautiful. A foolish barber and his wife. She was his reason and his life, and she was beautiful. And she was virtuous. And he was..."
The last great movie from Tim Burton.
Sure, Frankenweenie and Big Eyes were fine, but I honestly felt his heart and soul went into this movie than his recent ones.
The bloodiest musical ever staged and I loved it.
'Sweeney Todd' is a fantastic dark tale of bloody revenge with bottled up sorrow. There's something incredibly spectral about the atmosphere throughout the movie that uniquely blends shadows and darkness to create traumatic events. However, the movie isn't shy away of dark humor.
With it being a musical, the songs are all equally brilliant. My favorites are between "My friends" and "Pretty women". In "My Friends", Depp not only sings, but express so much emotion through his eyes and face. There's sadness, pain, hatred, and a dirty plan sparkling in the barbers eyes, which was marvelously portrayed by Johnny Depp. I don't understand why people criticize Depp's singing, it's so beautiful.
Helen Bonham Carter is spectacular as the ghostly, but still gorgeous looking Mrs. Lovett. I love how even in her fantasies during the musical segment "By the Sea", Sweeney is still uninterested in her, because she never sees him smile, so even in her fantasies he's still rejecting her. It's pretty sad to be honest.
Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall were all excellent in their meaty roles. I find it interesting that a lot of the main characters in the movie are horrible people. I mean there are some decent folks in the story, but evil overshadows them.
The production and costume design are freaking superb and stood at to me the most. It adds so much to the environment and the overall tone of the movie. The score gives a major Phantom of the Opera vibe and I freaking love it.
Overall rating: Coming to think of it, Burton just made the best adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide. Sweeney Todd wants to kill and Benjamin Barker wants to see his family.
