Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Posted: January 26th, 2008, 10:19
I went to see Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street last night, and I thought it was great. I've always been a big fan of Tim Burton, whether it be his sillier stuff like Beetlejuice, darker action stuff like Batman or more sentimental stuff like Big Fish, and so was really excited when I heard he was doing this.
The first thing to point out is that a large part of the dialogue is actually sung, which I don't think some people were expecting as 4 of them left after 10 minutes. More fool them. The cast is headed up by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, but are supported by Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen, all of whom are fantastic.
The storyline is based upon a Barber (Depp) who is sent away on a prison ship by a judge (Rickman) who is jealous of his beautiful wife. Depp then returns to London and is out to get revenge. As you'd expect from a story where people have their throats slit and then get turned into meat pies, it's pretty bloody, but I think the tone of it all is perfect.
There are contrasts between the dark parts where Depp is seething and plotting, and the lighter bits such as the song about different type of people pies. In fact, there were a lot of bits that made me laugh out loud, especially in the scene between Depp and Baron Cohen, where they have a competition between the two Barbers.
The songs are really good, and the music is spot on too. However, this is probably the first film of Burton's that I've seen where the score wasn't done by Danny Elfman. However, his usual style of music probably wouldn't be appropriate as this required something very different to what he normally does (he did The Simpsons, which is fairly representative of his style).
The main let-down for me was that a 2 of the younger characters were a bit weak - the sailor and Depp's daughter, but there is a younger boy than them who plays an assistant and is great.
I really enjoyed the film, as did the missus, despite the large amounts of blood. It was very entertaining, and very different to the majority of films I've seen recently.
The first thing to point out is that a large part of the dialogue is actually sung, which I don't think some people were expecting as 4 of them left after 10 minutes. More fool them. The cast is headed up by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, but are supported by Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen, all of whom are fantastic.
The storyline is based upon a Barber (Depp) who is sent away on a prison ship by a judge (Rickman) who is jealous of his beautiful wife. Depp then returns to London and is out to get revenge. As you'd expect from a story where people have their throats slit and then get turned into meat pies, it's pretty bloody, but I think the tone of it all is perfect.
There are contrasts between the dark parts where Depp is seething and plotting, and the lighter bits such as the song about different type of people pies. In fact, there were a lot of bits that made me laugh out loud, especially in the scene between Depp and Baron Cohen, where they have a competition between the two Barbers.
The songs are really good, and the music is spot on too. However, this is probably the first film of Burton's that I've seen where the score wasn't done by Danny Elfman. However, his usual style of music probably wouldn't be appropriate as this required something very different to what he normally does (he did The Simpsons, which is fairly representative of his style).
The main let-down for me was that a 2 of the younger characters were a bit weak - the sailor and Depp's daughter, but there is a younger boy than them who plays an assistant and is great.
I really enjoyed the film, as did the missus, despite the large amounts of blood. It was very entertaining, and very different to the majority of films I've seen recently.
