Sweeney Todd is Bloody Good!

[Glebb]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:18pm

Fabulous!
You Go Johnny!

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:19pm

Woot!

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:27pm

I saw it earlier today and was very impressed with his singing. Multo bene, signor Johnny!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:28pm

Not my slice of pie, so to speak.

[nitsua]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:29pm

Ivan and I loved it!

[Glebb]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:33pm

Three quarters of the way through I wished for a version to be available with all of the music. But I understand why some of it has been cut and I enjoyed every bit of the film. Perfect casting.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:33pm

way too graphic, way too much blood. other than that loved it, my review is on the main board with all the others

[Ariella]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:49pm

I saw it today and thought it was absolutely fabulous.

[Glebb]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:50pm

I'm not good at writing reviews. I just love to gush! :)

[Broadway Bound2]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 9:52pm

I say I must agree this movie was fabulous.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 10:02pm

Glebby, when one has your looks and talent, you can get away with just gushing! hehehehe

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 10:28pm

I didn't think it was too bloody at all. Afterwards, I thought "THAT'S what people thought was too bloody?" He slits people's throats. What do you think it's going to look like?


I very much enjoyed the film. I thought it was excellent. Not necessarily Best Picture material, but it's a very successful adaptation of one of my favorite musicals. I'm not going to go on and on about all the things I adored, but I do have a few quibbles.

1.) Anthony's age. He was too young. I find that the Anthony/Johanna story line is more fulfilling and realistic when Anthony is a bit older. After all, he claims to have "sailed the world, beheld its wonders/from the Dardanelles/to the mountains of Peru...", but he looks no older than 17-18 years old. He lays his eyes on a girl through a window, falls in love, and will stop at nothing to rescue her? He's a 15 year old twink. He's been no where, seen nothing, and probably knows little to nothing of love. His brutally young and boyish face and age make their relationship seem nothing more than a passing teenage fancy. The stakes aren't high enough.

2.) On the same note, I understand why the majority of Johanna's material was cut, but as a result - the characters of Johanna and Anthony (and their whole story line) seems incomplete - almost like "Well, I don't know you. Who cares what happens to you?" It would have done the film a great service to have left "Kiss Me" in the film. Without it, Johanna and Anthony have NO scenes together prior to her rescue. He's only seen her through a window - how on EARTH would he recognize her and pick her out from dozens of girls at an asylum? And more than that, the absence of "Kiss Me" makes Johanna seem idiotic and annoying. With the song, you see her quirky personality and her actual chops. You find out something about her and her interaction. In the musical, she wants Anthony just as much as Anthony wants her. In the film, the only indication of her agreement is the tossing of the key. I actually feel that the exclusion of so much Johanna/Anthony material is a fatal, fatal flaw in the film.

3.) The casting of Tobias. I didn't mind that he was so young - it worked quite well - but the kid wasn't much of an actor while singing. He's a cute kid with a cute voice, but his eyes are completely empty when he sings. Not only isn't he giving the audience any indication that he knows what he's singing about, but it's highly unlikely that a kid THAT young who was raised in a workhouse would be able to put together lines as meaningful and poetic and sophisticated as those in "Not While I'm Around." Suspension of disbelief - yes - but I felt that the kid was just TOO infantile.

[broadway_freak2]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 10:57pm

I fell in love with the movie. It was fantastic. I had some reservations, but that happen with ever film. I still can't shake off how good it was.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 10:58pm

So is it Burton's best since ED WOOD? Or as good as or even better than ED WOOD?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:04pm

Munk, you have to consider that Anthony may have been sent to sea as a young boy, it was not uncommon at all in those days to use orphans as cabin boys, so the fact that he is only 17 or so is not that outrageous. In fact I thought casting Anthony and Toby so young really made a connection between those two characters, thematically.
If Anthony had been at sea all his life, it would make sense he would fall in love and become obsessed with the first pretty girl he saw.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:08pm

I also greatly missed Tobias' essentially going into shock.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:09pm

Does it keep the "Patty-cake patty-cake Baker's man" rant at the end? That's always my favorite moment in any show.

[Atrias]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:13pm

Nope. He just...walks up, kills Sweeney and walks away. Kind of abrupt, actually.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:13pm

No

[pushdabutton]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:27pm

I saw it today and loved it. More blood than I expected but I didn't feel like it was overdone. Johnny Depp's singing ability really surprised me. He did a great job as did Helena.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:43pm

Sueleen: Yes, all of those things are true and they did cross my mind. While it is of course possible for a young person to have literally traveled the world, I firmly FIRMLY believe that the age and inherent naivety of someone so young trivializes the relationship with Johanna. It can easily be brushed off as "Oh, they're just kids." Of course, Johanna is Sweeney's daughter so you're forced to care more - but it would be quite easy to just brush them off as being young, dumb kids.

I felt that a more mature Anthony (Victor Garber, anyone) really makes the relationship more realistic.


With all that said, do you agree with me on the point of "Kiss Me?" I think it's an important mistake.

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 11:58pm

Wow. I don't have to write anything as munkustrap has echoed my sentiments about the film to a "T".

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 12:21am

Munk, I don't disagree with you and I probably would not have cast it that way, but I can see the reasoning behind it and I think it worked. And yes, I missed Kiss Me, too. But obviously they made the choice to focus more on the Sweeney/Lovett relationship. That would explain why By the Sea was retained.

[Glebb]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 12:29am

Focus on Lovett/Sweeney relationship for sure.
No Joanna and Anthony at the end.
I loved the casting and Helena's acting with Toby was heartbreaking.

[scott68]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 12:37am

I was actually very impressed with Johnny Depp's singing. Definitely a different edge than the traditional Sweeney, but perfectly serviceable. Helena Bonham Carter impressed me in that even though she obviously can't sing at all, I didn't really see that as a problem in her Mrs. Lovett.

I think the highest praise I could give the movie is that, while watching, I didn't once stop and say, "Oh, why did they cut that!" And, being the Sondheim and Sweeney devotee that I am, that was EXTREMELY unexpected.