Sweeney Todd Movie Review Thread- Page 10

[justagirl2]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 4:51pm

I saw it at midnight on Thursday night, and I. Absolutely. Loved. It.

I was impressed with Johnny, and completely forgot that I was watching him (which was a real testament to his acting and personification of Sweeney, as the obnoxious girls in front of me were loudly OHMIGOD'ing about him the entire time). I wasn't initially thrilled with the choice to cast him, but it's pretty clear that he's a talented man who really delved into the character and did his best to understand him, to great effect. Alan Rickman is the Heavenly Father, as far as I'm concerned, so I was happy with him, and I was actually really blown away by Sascha Baron Cohen's scene with Depp in the shop. Right when he reverted to the British accent, he was threatening and infuriating, and you could absolutely see why Sweeney would want to off him. And Helena! Wow. She was my favorite, I think. Mrs. Lovett was desperate, and sympathetic, pathetic and hilarious. I actually was OK with her casting, as I had a feeling she would bring just the right amount of crazy, and I think she delivered. Her Mrs. Lovett is totally different than any other, but for a film setting, with Depp, it absolutely worked. As for the singing, Depp wasn't half bad, and I thought Bonham Carter was just fine. The adults in the show have all lived difficult lives, and it almost adds to the roughness of the characters that their voices don't always ring like bells.

I liked Anthony and Johanna, because, as someone else said, they weren't annoying. Obviously, the character development was lacking, but I've often found those characters to be grating "innocents," existing mostly to counterbalance Sweeney and Lovett's dynamic. But I thought Anthony, especially, was actually quite likable. And Johanna never really bothered me. "Green Finch," a song I normally skip, was quite lovely. She had a genuine sadness that made me feel for her, despite her not being on screen all that much. I would have liked to see "Kiss Me," though.

[lovinlovett]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 4:58pm

Yes, burning in the oven, that was particularly creepy. Yikes!

Just a random thought: I really loved how Depp does the last line of 'No Place Like London'....he's walking purposefully through the tunnel and when he speaks that line, "there's a hole in the world like a great place pit and it's filled with people who are filled with...etc." (well, you know!) I love the way he says that, it's so very different from all four of the other recordings I have of this and when I heard it in the movie I was really stunned by it. The way he almost whispers it. Wonderful scene!
Updated On: 12/22/07 at 04:58 PM

[artscallion]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:18pm

My local paper gave the movie five out of five stars. I did find some things that made me chuckle in the review and thought I'd share them...

- Although some people may carp about non-singers Depp and Helena Bonham Carter taking on the principal roles, Sondheim songs are such that most are done for dramatic effect and don’t depend so much on everyone hitting the right note.

- the angry Todd sings, “there’s a hole in the world and the vermin inhabit it and that place is London.”

- In that desperate era, which Todd views as a period of “men devouring men,” it makes perfect sense to him to impart his own sense of justice on things and to eliminate the people he feels are drags on society.

- Truth to tell, when I went to see Sweeney Todd on Broadway, I walked out at intermission — something about all those bodies sliding down a chute. And what on earth were the stars yammering about on stage anyway in their thick accents. Since then I’ve failed to make it very far into a couple of PBS productions.

Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.

[Fan2]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:31pm

I thought this was amusing - how some people didn't know it was a musical.

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2007/12/fake_out.php

[artscallion]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:43pm

Holy mackerel!

My favorites...



"Why are they talking like that? Why are they talking like that?"

Okay...I have to ask. Did someone REALLY say that? To not know beforehand that SWEENEY TODD is a musical is pretty shocking. To not know what a musical IS when you're watching it is absolutely mind-boggling.



and...
...As the couple left(during A Little Priest,) the man extended his hand and flipped off the screen.

What on earth could be going through these people's heads?

[lovinlovett]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 6:04pm

Honestly, this was one of my primary thoughts while watching Sweeney Todd:

"Okay, *I* get it and *I* love it, but most people are mouth-breathing, tractor-pull watching morons and are completely ignorant of theater in general and...what will *they* think of it? I can't imagine that they could possibly like this."

This report just confirms my worst fears. But, I did love the comment "Don't you people realize that 80-85% of the country is f**king stupid"

That was funny!

In reality I don't really care whether most people *get it* or not. Other than the fact that it's very distracting while trying to enjoy a movie to have someone nearby making negative comments or getting up and walking out (especially a movie that I care about so deeply).

[justagirl2]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 6:12pm

I like the comment that it's a parody of musicals. Wow...we've been awfully misled then, haven't we?

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 6:19pm

Maybe we should install a new movie ratings system....

"M" for MUSICAL! (Singing and dancing will be involved in this motion picture)

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 7:35pm

I'll throw my thoughts in here as well...

And they're really THOUGHTS, not so much a formal review. I'm not good at writing those, but better at writing down the ideas and emotions as they come.

Right now, having just seen the film a few hours ago, I'm stunned by it. A little in shock, a little repulsed (I feel like I need a shower), and both impressed and disappointed by what I saw.

*****SPOILERS******

None of the following was surprising to me, particularly after seeing and hearing so many clips, but I'll mention them just the same:

The movie looks like a graphic novel. A blend of "From Hell" and the original Frankenstein from Universal.

The Sondheim score sounds fantastic played by such a large well-recorded orchestra. Considering that Sondheim was paying homage to the film scores of Bernard Hermann when he wrote the original Sweeney Todd, it's truly satisfying to hear this music played by a full fledged "movie orchestra."

The violence was pretty damn disgusting. Particularly the demises of the Judge and Mrs. Lovett.

Wonderful things:

Helena gave the best acting performance in the film. Her singing was fine, but not great. No shock, I know. I thought she made Mrs. Lovett as real as possible in this "horror movie" world. Her tortured, devastated expression, when she realizes Tobias knows too much and he must die... this actually MADE the entire movie for me. The most haunting moment in the film.

Disappointing:

Johnny's acting was fairly "one (nice, impressive) note," but of various degrees of the same exact emotion. There were missed opportunities and layers in his performance, particularly when he realizes the Beggar Woman is his wife at the end. I thought he underplayed or internalized that revelation to the point that I never really felt anything for his Sweeney, ultimately. Even in the old monster movies, there was always one moment where we connected with the humanity behind the evil. I thought it took away from my impression of his work, and left me feeling rather cold. I did, however, like him bleeding all over the dead Lucy. That was a wonderful, tragic tableau and should have come AFTER we see the horror on his face when he realizes what he did. He actually sang "What have I done?" with no more intensity or expression on his face or in his voice than any other line thus far. That's really unfortunate for him and for the film as a whole.

The movie felt creaky, a tad slow, and only mildly fascinating until Pirelli and Tobias showed up. Everything kicked up a notch then. Once the violence kicked in, the film finally became something highly unusual. A horror movie musical. Something I have never seen before... and am not sure I want to see again, in truth. But it did what it set out to do.

I loved having Tobias as a child in this film. The kid looked and sounded right, and played most of his scenes very well. Again, there were missed opportunities, particularly at the end of the story. His menacing expression when he came out of the dark for Sweeney was truly chilling. But when he was initially locked in the bakehouse, his "frightened" expression was way too standard. I would have wanted to see him short-circuit there. Not just look scared. In the stage show, he emerges with his hair turned completely white. I wanted to see that here as well... and they should have kept his childlike, "Pack him, ****him, and mark him with a B..."

And I really didn't like just a simple fade-out before the credits started to roll. Tobias should have turned into the camera and slammed that oven door right in our faces. Into complete darkness. And we would hear it echo out over a dark screen, with an awkward pause, before the credits began.

Anthony looked like a buggy-eyed nerd, not like a young, handsome strapping lad who sailed the seas. Too fragile and willowy to have survived so long in those conditions. I think going "Heroin Chic" for him was a big mistake. I did buy his youthful age, and understand that he could have been all over the world at that point and never seen such a beautiful girl before... I just didn't buy this actor in that role.

Johanna was also a bit buggy-eyed but very beautiful. (Seriously, why do so many "kids" in Tim Burton movies have hyperthyroid problems?)

A missed opportunity was seeing Johanna go a bit mad herself in the asylum. And they trimmed too much of her music. They should have kept her part of the "Johanna reprise" at least, where she keeps singing "married on Sunday, married on Sunday..." If we'd seen her facing the horrors of the asylum as she sang that, it would have added a lot for her character and her performance.

As it is, Anthony and Johanna are usually played as stock melodrama characters. Take that "style" (which I don't even like) away from them, and there's not much left for them OR the audience to chew on. If they were going to cut "Kiss Me" they shouldn't have cut the awkward interaction between the two when they first physically meet. She has no idea how to behave around a young man, and probably got what little she knows out of novels she stole away from the Judge's library. It doesn't have to be played for cartoonish laughs, but it could have been a very bittersweet, slightly humorous, and painfully tragic moment for the two of them. And for us.

I didn't mind the Ballad of Sweeney Todd being cut, but I VERY MUCH minded ALL the choral singing being cut from the entire score. It was especially noticeable in "God That's Good!" I wanted to hear the people singing, eating, drinking and merrily enjoying themselves. It fits the scene! I also wanted to hear the inmates singing in the asylum. Somebody involved in this REALLY doesn't like choral singing of any kind and made it a curious "blanket rule" for the whole film. Bad mistake, and it made some of the energy of those scenes in particular suffer greatly as a result. Plus, it really kept the principle performers emotionally and stylistically isolated from anybody else "living" in the movie. It was actually less realistic to have no one sing but the leads in this "musical world."

All in all, I think Tim Burton and Johnny Depp accomplished what they set out to do. Whether or not it was successful sitting in the audience? Well... For me, only partially so. When their vision "worked" it really worked well. But primarily due to Depp staying on his very narrow, gritty, determined path as a serial killer, I didn't find myself being drawn into this version of "Sweeney Todd" nearly as much as I have by several others.

[TWSFan4Ever]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 8:08pm

I saw the movie today and absolutely loved it. I wasn't 100% sure about Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, but I loved them. At first, I was a little disturbed by the blood, but after awhile, I was fine. I can't stop listening to the soundtrack. Easily the best film of 2007. My only complaint is that I wish that the Beggar Woman's "How'd you like a little muff, dear" part was in the film during "Alms! Alms!" It is on the film's soundtrack, but not in the film (she just walks away after she says 'With mischief on his mind' and keeps saying 'Alms! Alms!')

***SPOILERS***

Also, I saw it with my mom (who I will be seeing the tour with in Pittsburgh). It took her a little while, but once the Beggar Woman started to come on more and more in "God, That's Good!," she recognized her as Lucy.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 8:59pm

Thanks for the great review, best12bars. Describing Anthony as "heroin chic" is such a great way to put it.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 9:04pm

I actually have a question that maybe someone could answer..

Was the ENTIRE "By The Sea" scene a fantasy? Including Helena's dialogue with Johnny sitting on the hill...right before she starts singing? Or was the dialogue part in real time and the song itself just the fantasy?

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 9:29pm

ljay--I took the hillside scene at either end to be "real," bookending the fantasy. Since the somber color palette matched the rest of the movie.

But I had a hard time believing that Sweeney would have gone out like that to sit on a hill with Lovett and Tobias. I can't see how he would have been persuaded to go on any "outing" whatsoever.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 9:31pm

But I had a hard time believing that Sweeney would have gone out like that to sit on a hill with Lovett and Tobias.

- Exactly. That's why I was wondering if it all was a fantasy. Before I saw the film, I assumed the dialogue would still take place in the parlor - and then the fantasy would come alive in her head. Anyway I'm thankful they kept Lovett's great lines before the number.
Updated On: 12/22/07 at 09:31 PM

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 9:31pm

I love this movie so much. I've already seen it twice and it was even better the second time. Ed Sanders amazes me! His face at the end gives me immdiate chills. So. Good.

[logan0215]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 9:32pm

More thorough review to come but:

Up until Pirelli's entrance it felt like an exercise in vanity by Tim Burton (i.e casting his muse in a role he couldn't sing but possibly act, casting his wife in a part that should have been played by someone older).

I did enjoy it by the end, but a masterful piece of theater and orchestration deserved a better (vocally) performed adaptation in film IMO.

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 10:39pm

I just got back from my second viewing. I was too swept up by the fact that it was finally made into a film to be truly objective the first time around because I love the musical so much. I wanted to wait for a second viewing before I posted my thoughts in this thread. Well after seeing it for a second time you can count me in the minority that isn't gushing over this film adaptation or ready to toss it every single accolade known to man.

It suffers from poor storytelling as far as the Johanna/Anthony storyline is concerned. The lack of a true resolution for these two characters was truly unsatisfying.

I missed all the choral parts in this wonderful score! I'm with best12bars on this one. That whole "God, That's Good!" sequence would have been so much better with the choral parts.

The Beggar Woman/Lucy was so underused. Not a major loss but still...

I didn't buy Jaime Campbell Bower as "Anthony" at all. He has a beautiful voice but he was too, too pretty to convince me he was
a sailor who'd traveled around the world.

Visually the movie was moving. I didn't find the blood disturbing , after all he *was* slitting throats, no?

Depp did a very good job as "Sweeney". He handled his songs pretty well. Although his "Epiphany" lacked something.

Dramatically Helena Bonham Carter was too one note. She was just in my opinion to low key in this role. Not one glimpse that this woman had a screw loose. Her singing left a lot to be desired. I couldn't understand one word she sang (and I use that term loosely) in "The Worst Pies In London"....and I know the score!

It's critical when telling a story through song that the viewer understand what is being sung. I'm sure those who have never heard the score to "Sweeney" had no idea what she was warbling on about. It was extremely disappointing.

Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall were great as "Judge Turpin" and "The Beadle" respectively.

When all is said and done this is the best possible big screen version of SWEENEY TODD we are going to get...like it or love it, take it or leave it.





Updated On: 12/22/07 at 10:39 PM

[logan0215]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:34am

Very much agree with the majority of what you (and best12) said.

I wanted to give myself a day to think about it, possibly a second viewing, but I too think I was too hyped up to be objective during my first viewing today.

I think I was also expecting a film version of the recent revival, even though reminded so many times that it wouldn't be, I still hoped for it.

I was listening to it all week leading up to seeing it, and the sinister quality of Cerveris' Sweeney would have Depp's ****ting his pants quite honestly.

Right on the money about Helena, she was playing the "out there" thing entirely too much.

I was very bothered by the VH1 special I watched about the show the day before yesterday. In it Burton said that he cast Depp without even having him vocally audition because he knew he was "in a rock band." Wasn't there such a big deal on here about how Sondheim had this overextending seal of approval on all vocals?

He said he put Helena through more of a vigorous audition because they were dating. HA! Helena said in an interview that she kept getting lost in her own head due to her pregnancy and Depp would have to snap her back into it during their scenes and get her back on track. That was obvious.

You're right about her accent as well, I think I spent more time worrying that the people around me who hadn't seen the show's ability to get the jokes and little idiosyncracies in the score rather than enjoying it myself.

"By the Sea" was a definitely an ode to Burton-esque quirkiness which bothered me.

I also wasn't entirely too fond of the differing color tones from the flashbacks to present day. I know its supposed to reflect the state-of-mind of Sweeney, but it was just so dreary for the remainder of the movie and therefore made "By the Sea" literally laughable. "A Little Priest" didn't do much for me either. No one got the jokes in the theater I was in.

Updated On: 12/23/07 at 03:34 AM

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 11:38am

genius but sick, incredibly sick.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 11:48am

Logan, just because you did not hear people laughing doesn't mean they didn't get the jokes. As witty as the lyrics are, I find them more amusing than laugh out loud funny. And some are really groan incucing, actually. ("Never know when its going to run?"

Posted: 12/23/07 at 12:01pm

i do think by not having Sweeney run into the Beggarwoman when he first arrives in london undercuts that tragedy.

& what i realized about myself: i didnt think "good singing" would matter so much to me, & i didnt even realize that that is one of the things i love most about SWEENEY; how the voices weave together acrobatically, how they call & respond.

& this version didnt even attmept it.

another thing: i was so happy when i read that Tim Burton was doing it, because i thought he would bring out a level of humanity in the story that we might not have seen before; instead he made it more brutal than i couldve imagined, & i have less empathy with this version of SWEENEY.

i *AM* happy that its a success, tho!

[artsamore]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 12:05pm

Logan & Retroboy thanks for the objectivity. It has not been easy here for those of us who had issues with the movie...you are brave souls indeed.

SueleenGay I here what you are saying but I if I did not know the score by heart I too would not know what the heck she was saying in "Worst Pies..." or what was going on in "Little Priest" Plus I made it a point to observe the audience during the movie because I really wanted to see how people were responding to it...and I did not see quiet amusement....I saw sighs and frowns(and no not in the good way).

Posted: 12/23/07 at 12:12pm

also i agree that its hard to care about Johanna without KISS ME to show that she *has* a personality.

tho i *AM* happy that its a success!

[lovinlovett]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 12:15pm

Interesting to see the IMDB reviews breakdown according to gender and age:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0408236/ratings

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 1:29pm

I wouldn't take what the people on IMDB say too seriously.
Updated On: 12/23/07 at 01:29 PM