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Rating of
4/4
Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd
patjohnson76 - wrote on 12/29/2007
Adapting Stephen Sondheim's challenging and muscial masterpiece Sweeney Todd for the big screen would be a difficult task for anyone. How do you get people to come and watch a movie version of a musical about a demented barber that goes on a killing spree for revenge? Fortunately, getting Tim Burton to direct was the first good idea, and getting Johnny Depp to portray Todd was the second. Burton creates the darkness of London with ease, and Depp portrays Todd's thirst for revenge masterfully.
Helena Bonham Carter portrays Mrs. Lovett, the baker who turns the bodies into meat pies, all right. I saw stage great Patti LuPone a couple years ago with a better interpretation. Carter is all right, but I wanted Mrs. Lovett to be a little more calculating and less needy. Alan Rickman …
Rating of
2/4
If they stopped singing it would have been good
Josh C - wrote on 12/23/2007
I read the reviews, I watched the trailers, and I heard people saying it is not what I am expecting. But No, I had to go watch it. I love Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, but I did not like this movie at all. I am being very generous giving this film two stars. The reason I give it two stars is mainly because I don't like the genre, musicals, that this movie falls into but understand that as a musical this movie is probably a great film.
I knew there was some singing to this movie before I watched it, but I never expected 85% of the movie to be in song. I expected a movie that had a "musical like feel" such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but not a full-fledged musical. So if you are expecting a dark, engaging movie beware!
The story was interesting enough, though I was almost …
Rating of
2/4
Not Great, Not Bad, Just Kind of... There
jkownacki - wrote on 12/22/2007
As with most Tim Burton films, the art direction was wonderful and the acting was decent (though it helps to have a very talented cast), but in the end, I found the film quite lacking in... emotion? Satisfaction? A point?
It's a simple tale of revenge, moodily told, and the songs intersperse with the dialogue in a generally unobtrusive manner -- thanks for adapting your own musical, Mr. Sondheim -- but it requires a lot of forgiveness on the part of the audience to be truly enjoyed. This is due mainly to the plot being contrived to the point of not actually needing to exist at all -- well, the entire middle, technically -- although it does all get wrapped up tidily in the end... as any morality play about the evil that men do in the name of love most obviously should.
Fans of …
Rating of
4/4
Review - Sweeney Todd (2007)
Delorted - wrote on 12/21/2007
Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) was a respectable barber before the amorous Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) sent him away on a false charge to better himself with Benjamin’s wife. Now, back under the name Sweeney Todd, Barker vows to seek revenge with his neighbor Mrs. Lovitt (Helena Bonham Carter) in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
I had been waiting literally all year for this movie, and finally I got to see it. All of that waiting, all of that pent up excitement, none of it compared with the final result, nor did it take away from the enjoyment like it has in the past with movies. I can honestly say that this is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen.
The music is fantastic and the style is like nothing I have ever seen before. This is the first movie I …
Rating of
2/4
Sweeney Fraud
Allison - wrote on 12/19/2007
Aye, there never was a barber like Sweeney Todd...and thank goodness! From the very beginning the music was pretty much rubbish. And frizzy-haired wacko pale Helena Bonham Carter was quite the opposite of charming.
Except for the song "Joanna" the songs were terrible, and the lyrics were especially lacking. Johnny Depp referring to the blade as his "friend" was incredibly ridiculous. It got better towards the end though, and there was a standout performance by Alan Rickman.
Sascha Baron Cohen's role was awfully distracting in more ways than one (if you see the movie you'll know what I'm talking about). But great actors can't rely on gags. The whole audience was laughing at him. Which is fine. Okay, he's entertaining. But he will never be taken seriously. Thank goodness he wasn't …
Rating of
4/4
Tim Burton's best film... ever?
newmans_own - wrote on 12/05/2007
Ever since its legendary original production in 1979, SWEENEY TODD has been heralded as one of the great masterpieces of musical theatre. Rumblings of a film adaptation have been circulating for years, with directorial duties signed to Tim Burton in the late 90s and Sam Mendes earlier this decade. For a while, there were rumors of Russell Crowe making his directorial debut with the film. Now it has finally arrived, back in Burton’s hands, perhaps the ones best equipped to handle such a piece. SWEENEY TODD will likely come to be known as Burton’s best film, one where his penchant for visuals finally coincides completely with a satisfying story.
The material is already filled with the kind of dark macabre humor that Burton is so fond of, and he clearly relishes in it. Every last bit …
