Street Date: April 1

Official Synopsis:
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton join forces again in a big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's award-winning musical thriller Sweeney Todd. Depp stars in the title role as a man unjustly sent to prison who vows revenge, not only for that cruel punishment, but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, Sweeney Todd becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who "shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again." Joining Depp is Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney's amorous accomplice, who creates diabolical meat pies. The cast also includes Alan Rickman, who portrays the evil Judge Turpin, who sends Sweeney to prison and Timothy Spall as the Judge's wicked associate Beadle Bamford and Sacha Baron Cohen is a rival barber, the flamboyant Signor Adolfo Pirelli.

  
Our Take:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (hereafter referred to solely as Sweeney Todd) is about as Tim Burton as a film can get. I used to really dislike Tim Burton; a feeling which was multiplied by how devoted and passionate (and sometimes loudmouthed) his fans tend to be. However, over the years, I’ve come to see him as a brilliant if erratic filmmaker. I’ve loved some of his movies (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) and hated others (Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman Returns.) Sweeney Todd, however falls right into that middle category that so many of Burton’s films tend to for me: the “didn’t love it, didn’t hate it” category (Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood.)

On the one hand, I think Tim Burton was the absolute right choice for this movie; after all, who else could bring a gothic musical about a murderous barber to the big screen so elegantly? On the other hand, I feel like it was a little lazy on Burton’s part. There’s really nothing here he hasn’t done before, even working with his usual line-up of actors (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter). I can’t say that a part of me doesn't wish that Burton’s next project had been something a little more off his usual beaten path. What is differnet for him, though, is the bloody nature of the film. While the moive is very tame for the first half, the second half is a bit more over-the-top than we’re used to from Burton; as much as he tends to be a dark filmmaker, this film definitely earns its “’R’ rating once the blood starts flowing (or gushing, more accurately). Frankly, it gets a bit mind-numbing in it’s cartoonish nature after a while.

As for the musical aspect of the film, this one is on the border of annoying for me. I don’t generally love musicals, but there are some really good songs here. There are also way too many of them. I prefer my musicals like Moulin Rouge, where it’s story-story-story-song, story-story-story-song. Sweeney Todd, on the other hand, is song-song-song-story, and that formula wears thin with me after a while. I wish that the songs were more of a punctuation, rather than the driving force behind the plot.

But the film looks great, you can’t deny that. There’s a reason why this film took home the Oscar for art direction. It’s gothic and completely fake-looking in that way that only Tim Burton can pull off, where it looks fake but you like it anyway. Really, the movie looks and sounds terrific and is filled with fantastic performances, so much so that I really wish I liked the film as a whole more than I did.

Sweeney Todd comes to DVD as a 2-Disc Collector’s Edition; there’s also a single-disc edition available, but we’re looking at the premium version. Extra features are as follows:

* Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd (26 minutes) – A nice making-of that includes interviews with Stephen Sondheim, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp and others.

* Sweeney Todd Press Conference, November 2007 (20 minutes) - Cast and crew at a press conference, doing a fun Q&A.

* Sweeney is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber (20 minutes) – Focuses on the possibility of a real life Sweeney Todd.

* Musical Mayhem: Sondheim´s Sweeney Todd (12 minutes) – The history of Sweeney Todd as a show and as a film.

* Sweeney´s London (16 minutes) – Focuses on London at the time of this film’s setting.

* The Making of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (24 minutes) – Another behind-the-scenes making-of, a little more in-depth than the first one.

* The Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition (20 minutes) – Learn a little about horror theater.

* Designs for a Demon Barber (9 minutes) – A look at the costumes and production design of the film.

* Bloody Business (9 minutes) – Blood and guts (and special effects)!

* Movietone Unscripted with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp (12 minutes) – A conversation between  Burton and Depp

* The Razor´s Refrain (9 minutes) – A photo gallery slideshow.

* Photo Gallery – An additional stills gallery.

* Theatrical Trailer.

While I didn’t love Sweeney Todd, it is definitely worth watching. It’s an interesting, highly stylized film, and whether you love it or hate it, I don’t think you’ll regret watching it.

Overall Picture:
Movie: C+
DVD: A+

- Mike Spring
Editor