It seems fitting, since we've been focusing on musicals lately, and we reviewed Dexter yesterday, that today we would combine the two and review Tim Burton's latest movie, Sweeney Todd. We have never seen the actual musical, so we didn't know what to expect from the film, but we were excited. The result? Another Tim Burton masterpiece with his eclectic cinematography, bizarre costuming, and surreal sets. But unlike other Tim Burton movies we've enjoyed (e.g. Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands) this movie was gruesome. Violent in a truly Tarantino-esque fashion.Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp), the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, is returning from serving penance for a crime he didn't commit. He was framed because a lusty judge was after his beautiful wife. He ends up in cahoots with Mrs. Leavitts (Helena Bonham Carter) who helps him plan his evil schemes. Johnny Depp was pretty awesome in this film, though we were quite disappointed in Helena Bonham Carter's casting, her voice was too weak and her character unconvincing. We were also suprised to see Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat) with a cameo as a rival barber.
Quick vote: This movie was gruesome, but well made. Not for the faint of heart, or the faint of ear, as some of Mz. Carter's singing is quite gruesome itself. (Ah, nepotism. She's Tim Burton's wife.)
1 comment:
I'm a fan. I actually liked Helena in this, although, I really like her in general, so maybe I'm biased. It was odd to have non-singers in the lead roles, although I thought they both did quite well. Helena's wispy voice, I thought, had a distant, slightly crazy quality to it, that I liked in this role; having seen the old version of this with Angela Landsbury as Mrs. Lovett, I DEFINITELY preferred Helena.
But yes, the real quality singing was from the supporting characters. Johanna's voice was very good, and Toby's, I thought, was awesome.
Yes, rather grotesque. Burton definitely wasn't pulling any punches in this one. The cutting of necks, surprisingly not so bad...dropping the bodies down the shoot, however, YIKES!!!
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