Sweeney Todd Movie Review Thread- Page 13

[roquat]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 4:15pm

Just found another IMDB user comment--here's part of it...

PLEASE STOP CASTING CARTER IN MOVIES SHE CANNOT ACT!

Amen.

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 5:12pm

I'm not going to write a long drawn out review because...well, frankly, at this point there are so many, that mine doesn't matter that much. LOL - but since everyone is sharing their thoughts, these are mine.

A few "demographic" notes: Myself, an actor and singer who has seen the show numerous times, been in it, and will be musically directing it this spring; my brother, who is not a theater buff, but enjoys his brother's work, and is semi-familiar with Sondheim's piece, and my brother's fiance', who knew nothing about the plot, music - anything. We all went together for my brother's birthday. The audience demographic - mostly late 20's - early 30's, with some older folks (no one above 60, I would imagine). Very few, if any, "tweens", or kids who might not get it. NO walk outs. NO laughter at inappropriate moments. LOTS of laughter in the right spots.

Overall, I thought the movie was beautifully executed, and well-cast. One has to go in realizing that it is no longer 1979, that these are not classically trained singers, and that things had to be adjusted for today's modern audiences. First question I have for anyone - in your theater, was the film incredibly LOUD? That was the first thing we noticed...the score sounds magnificent on the big screen, but it was a very loud film. I thought Johnny Depp was terrific - well acted, a solid character and portrayal, and he can carry a tune and handle the material fine. Is he George Hearn? No. But I can't imagine anyone else in Hollywood doing it at this point. I agree with Best12's comments that his emotional reaction at the end was not strong enough when he realized it was Lucy. Almost a "Oh...well....." kind of feeling - and that should be a revelation for the character that brings everything to a close.

I thought Helena was really excellent. She brought a sense of heart, a warmth to the character. I did not think she was underplayed; I look back now at Angela Lansbury's portrayal, and while, yes, iconic and brilliant, Lansbury never had the motherly affection for Toby that Carter showed, and I really liked that. When she locks him in the bakehouse, and turns with tears in her eyes, it's heartbreaking. Fine work in my opinion.

The rest of the cast we excellent. Rickman, Timothy Spall (CREE-PY!), and Baron Cohen as Pirelli were all very good. Cohen needs to work on his Irish accent. That's all I'm sayin'! And my, was his "beat down" a little brutal. Ouch.

As for the lovers, I felt that part of the movie was tossed away, sadly. Yes, as Sondheim has said, it's a "plot device" to move things along, but frankly, as lovely as they both sang, you never got to know either character, and Jamie Bowers is just not masculine enough to be the convincing lover. Oh, that music...those 4 chords in "Johanna", always leading up to "I feel you", or "I'll steal you" - such power and triumph...and here comes Jamie, wandering lowly the streets of London, staring up at the window. That was the only bad direction I could really argue with...climb a wall, run down the street, hump something - I don't care, but be masculine, and be the "hero" in those moments. Even I laughed after he gets beat by the Beadle, and he gets right back up and limps away singing - it was laughable.

My only other issue was that I thought things happened a bit to fast at times...the ending sequence, while scary and "heart pounding", left me a little cold. The fact that Depp's realization that it was his wife was anti-climatic was a big problem....and there's no resolution with the lovers, or Toby. And I could be wrong...but do people really die sitting up? I'm being nit-picky, but those kinds of details bother me.

So, verdict? I loved it - thought it was a beautifully made film, and could be considered Burton's masterpiece. My brother really liked it, and my brother's fiance now wants to buy the soundtrack and watch the original DVD, and loved it. The audience applauded when it was over, and someone yelled "Well, Merry Christmas" when it was done, to relieve the tension in the room as the lights came up.

A great film overall, and I hope it does well at the box office.

Oh, and as for the blood - I'm squeamish. But it was not as bad as reviews and people made it out to be. It was so over the top at moments that it did instill laughter amongst the audience collectively.

So much for my "short" review! Sorry!!

[artscallion]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 5:36pm

"in your theater, was the film incredibly LOUD?"

It was the opposite when I saw it. I kept wanting to yell, "turn it up a few notches!" It was a big problem for me, particularly as a lot of the acting and singing was underplayed to begin with. I wondered if the uninformed audience was able to follow what felt like a lot of mumbling at times.

My overall opinion of the film was that it just didn't grab me emotionally. I think the low volume had lots to do with that. I have to see it again somewhere else.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 5:41pm

We saw it last night 12/23 :

Things I like :

1. Johnny Depp

2. Helena Bonham- Carter

3. Very visual in the style of Tim Burton

4. Sondheim's score

5. that Toby kid was good


Things I Did not Like

1. What happened to Ballad of Sweeney Todd? Why is it not sung?

2. that- Anthony guy... he looks like Sandra Bullock

3. The beginning credit is soo computerized...


J*



Updated On: 12/24/07 at 05:41 PM

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 6:05pm

"Cohen needs to work on his Irish accent..."

I assume you're kidding...

And I thought the question about the omission of the sung Ballad was put to bed WEEKS (or even months) ago... Its a plot tool that everyone thought worked beautfully on stage but wasnt needed and would have been too "stagey" onscreen.

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 6:07pm

No, I'm not kidding.

There wasn't a hint of Irish in his accent. It was closer to Cockney and/or a mix of Ali G. My brother turned to me and said "That's not an Irish accent." So.....just stating the truth!

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 6:12pm

"And I thought the question about the omission of the sung Ballad was put to bed WEEKS (or even months) ago... Its a plot tool that everyone thought worked beautfully on stage but wasnt needed and would have been too "stagey" onscreen."

It's comments like that that really tick me off.

YOU'VE decided it's "put to bed," and YOU'VE decided it wasn't needed.

Quit trying to censor other people's opinions who thought the film suffered as a result of some of the cuts!

If you don't like that heat, get out of the kitchen.

...and get over yourself and your controlling post.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 6:13pm

Did you also notice that his name wasn't Danny O'Higgins.......I can't remember what it was right now...but it wasn't even close to Irish.....in other words...he wasn't meant to be Irish in this version, hence no Irish accent

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 6:13pm

...and JasonM, nice detailed review.

I agreed with many of your points.

[Eos]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 6:16pm

On my long drive home for the holidays I listened to the OBCR of Sweeney Todd - maybe not the smartest thing after seeing the movie Friday. While I still kind of mourned the loss of some things, it made me admire again how well the film came off.

I still think "God That's Good" would have been a real gem with the chorus left in. With the right shots of people eating and fresh pies coming out of the oven, I don't think it would have come off as silly at all. It would have been interesting to see it with Sweeney simultaneously having his chair delivered, too.

Yes, yes I know, it's not the staged version. It's just hard for me to let go of the origianl, I guess.

Don't get me wrong - I loved the film.

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 11:05pm

Jason- I'm also thinking they ditched the idea of the Irish accent completely, so that may not have been what he was attempting... I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic since I thought he wasn't even trying one.

And wow, best12!!!

Aside from your possibly not knowing what "censorship" actually means: when it's already been explained why they cut something, it kinda seems like it HAS been put to bed. It's been addressed a TON on this board, and he was not JUST saying that it hurt the film in his eyes, he was asking "why."

"...and get over yourself and your controlling post." That's just funny after lecturing me for an entire post.

"If you don't like that heat, get out of the kitchen." If you believe that, you wouldn't have to shriek at me for giving him some grief; he would just saunter out of the kitchen to get away from "my heat" without you playing sheriff.

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 11:13pm

I could have been wrong. Would have to go listen to the movie again, and see if I could make out what his name was. If it was supposed to be an Irish accent, it wasn't good. If it was supposed to be something else....BRAVO! LOL - I just couldn't make it out. That's all. I meant no harm. Love to Borat. LOL

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 11:21pm

On a side note, I saw more enthusiastic enjoyment of the Mamma Mia trailer that played before the movie than the movie itself. to look around and see 1/4 of the audience dancing in their seats was quite a sight (and this was Indiana!)

[zooxanthellae]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 11:38pm

Everyone in my theatre was cracking up at how cheesy Mama Mia looked... then somebody yelled out: "YEAH MERYL!!"
I admit it was rather childish but also rather humorous.

[justagirl2]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 11:57pm

I didn't take Pirelli to be Irish at all in the movie...I think he was simply meant to be British (tailored to Cohen, obviously).

[zooxanthellae]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 11:59pm

Yeah, I had assumed they abandoned the Irish and just made him British... the name was definitely different.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 12:36am

I think the name was "Daniel Connor" but I could be wrong. Irish but not quite AS Irish.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 2:49am

He's not Irish in the film script.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:16am

How old was the kid who played Toby?

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:50am

I saw it today....Where do I begin?

1st and foremost...the orchestrations were outta control FABULOUS! Incredible. With that said, I think they overshadowed some of the lyrics (At least in the theater I saw it in).

Was the movie true to the stage versions? Yes. Was it a materpiece? No. (In my opinion) Burton was true to the piece. Almost to a fault. Everything we wanted was in the movie and the things that were missing were not "really" missed. Depp...WONDERFUL. Carter...well, she is an amazing actress but was very "One note" in this movie. I was just waiting for her to take it to "her" level and she really didn't. Her performance, to me, ended up being an extension of Bellatrix from the last Harry Potter movie. She did not "layer" her performance at all. Yes, it was all played very dark. And she was wonderful "from time to time", but overall, she did not really impress me. "A Little Priest"? BRILLIANT. And the audience I was with ate it up. And the nod to the Sweeney poster at the end was WONDERFUL. I detached myself from the original (Which I saw) and the revival (Which I saw). In my opinion, Burton connected more with the revival. Because this movie was DARK. But it felt to me more like it was hitting points. Notes were not held. And that bothered me. Yes, it was the movie version. And it was very restrained, almost to a fault. But Depp could not overcome the music. Especially when he was to be angry. Not boisterious or loud enough. Thank GOD for his acting. That is what kept me enrapt. And then there was the thing with the letter. We had NO CLUE what was in the letter and if you didn't pay attention when the judge came in, you would have no idea. Why did we not get the portion of the score where Sweeney writes the letter?

And the blood...well, a lot has been made of the blood. I thought it was done (Pardon the possible pun) tastefully. Nothing worse than the SAW and HOSTEL movies. The use of the Sweeney Theme throughout was effective (Especially for those of us who know the score) I fell into the Anthony/Johanna story. yes, Anthony was a bit "gay". But they were both young and it worked. And speaking of young, Toby. Where did this boy come from? He was Excellent! And at the end, he portrayed both anger and madness.

So to go back to Carter. I felt not much of a relationship between Lovett and Toby. Until he sang "Nothing's Gonna Harm You: The best voice in the cast. Hands DOWN! and The last sequence when she smiled was nice.

It was a mish mash for me. Some Brillant moments and some not so great moments. And the exclusion of Toby's lines at the end was disappointing. It was pretty much cut and dry. And all about the blood. GOD I wanted to hear Toby's " Pat him, and ****him.....". It would have made the ending even more chilling.

But I walked out quite shaken. This was an in your face version of the piece. No real layers of emotion, but there were. In that Burton, Depp, Carter kind of way.

It was all about what Burton has become. And it is quite fabulous. But too refined and "pin pointed". had Burton let himself, Depp and Carter go just a bit, it may have been perfect. But I felt that he yanked back at certain times. And certain key times.

Depp should get nominated though. as well as Burton. This is like nothing we have seen as far as movie musicals. It grabs you and does NOT let go until the end. But that, for me, does not make the movie that is being raved about. As true to the original as it is. It is flawed.

I am VERY out to lunch on buying the soundtrack. I remember thinking :God, if I could buy the music without the vocals, that would be great!"

But, I will see it again and buy it. Why?...It is Sondheim...And Sweeney.

Should you attend this latest tale....yes. But thank God for the DVD of the original tour. And I thank goodness I saw the original production. And the revival.

And now that I have seen the movie...The Ballad of Sweeney Todd would have worked well over the end credits. I sat there hoping for some surprise in that I would hear it sung. I left 5 minutes into the credits figuring there was no surprise. Those incredible orchestrations and a huge choir would have been IN credible over the credits at the end. Especially since we didn't get that "choral bang" during the movie. and I think that is what was missing for me. There is a very orchestral and choral feel to this show and I think it could have been a part of this movie even with Burton directing. But he stripped the choral end of it down. For me, that was one downfall of the movie. Just my random thoughts.

Updated On: 12/26/07 at 03:50 AM

[snl89]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 1:29pm

My Review:

**WARNING**: POSSIBLE SPOILERS. and I tend to ramble... a LOT.. so I apologize in advance for the ginormous size of this post! lol


Alright, so I shall start off by first saying that I knew very, very little of Sweeney Todd before the movie came out. I knew the jist of the plot, but that was about it. So I really went into it as unbiased as one can be. Although, I suppose I was biased to an extent in that I am a huge Johnny Depp fan, so I was automatically rooting for the movie to be good. I also feel the need to mention that I am NOT so much a Sondheim fan (I know, I know, as a theater finatic that's blasphemy). I have tried to be, I really have, but I just personally find little of his music appealing, and his shows have not really captivated me. I saw Company on Broadway this past year, and I loved it solely because of Raul Esparza who is probably my favorite Broadway actor of all time, and he- and perhaps the rest of the incredibly talented cast as well- MADE me have an incredible theater experience despite the fact that the show itself, overall, was quite lackluster for me. Basically, every time I've seen a Sondheim show I've tried to love it with all my heart, but I've only loved bits and pieces of them depending on who is in them.

Sweeney, though, I had high hopes for because I have had the soundtrack for a while now, and quite enjoyed it- I still don't love a ton of the music, but as a whole, I love the recording and what of the story comes through on it. Plus, watching commercials and clips, well.. the only way I can think to describe what I expected it to be was "fierce". It just plain looked FIERCE.

And, now, having seen it, I can say that it WAS. There is a WHOLE lot of good in this movie. Not the least of which are the performances. Every single person in the cast- particularly Johnny and Helena- kicked some MAJOR butt in this movie. For me, watching the movie, it didn't matter a single solitary bit that they weren't the greatest singers in the world, because they were very good (especially Johnny), and they are such FRIGGIN brilliant actors it's sickening. I also have to give a shout out to a one Ed Sanders- that boy is just wonderful!! He reminds me very much of Freddie Highmore when Freddie made his debut in Finding Neverland. He's like a breath of fresh air, he's so pure and adorable, and he and Helena has SUCH beautiful chemistry together.

I feel I need to draw on some of the best points of Johnny and Helena for a minute:
-I've been of the opinion that Johnny is one of the greatest actors of our time for a long time now. But this movie truly showcased ALL his talent perfectly. I am constantly amazed by subtle things: like, for example, in the scene just after Poor Thing, the way he somehow manages to make it feel like he's crying, and seem like he's crying, without actually doing it. And how in My Friends there is a specific, very definitive moment where you completely see that he's gone from feeling extremely sad and depressed about what has happened to feeling nothing but vengefull. When he first sees his razors again- for me at least-, he's not thinking at all about slitting throats with them. He's genuinely expressing how much he has missed them. And then all of a sudden, BAM- it hits him that they can actually help him get the revenge he's so longing for. And there's a million other spots I could point out where I was just in awe of how perfect his performance was- the perfect balance he struck so that, even in the end, you still remembered that he was not always an evil man, and you still felt for him even as he slitted throat after innocent throat- even as he was about to slit his DAUGHTER'S throat.
-Helena's real brilliance, I think, is in that she is REALLY freaking hilarious. I mean Johnny is too, but just- she is so fabulous at that completely straight-faced, dry, twisted humor, and it made her Ms. Lovette incredibly loveable. But also she's just a flat out great actress. By the time Not While I'm Around came around you REALLY felt for her.

Ok, so enough talk about the performances- basically, ALL around they were near flawless in my mind.

Other positives about the movie/story in general: It was SO much funnier than I expected it to be! I'm a person who loves dark and twisted humor haha, so I really felt that the humorous parts were some of the best. My mom and sister and I were cracking up SO hard during A Little Priest. Just the way earnestness with which they were looking out the window, contemplating which people they saw would make the best flavors. And it's funny because I've heard a lot of die hard Sweeney fans talk about how they DIDN'T like A Little Priest and that it wasn't played up enough, but, having nothing to compare it to, I thought it was just hysterical! And the glorious irony of the Johanna scene- with such a pretty, delicate song being used as he gruesomely cuts neck after neck after neck! SUCH smart writing! And of course By The Sea had me giggling like crazy as well!

The story over all was really extremely engaging. I felt for all of the characters, and I didn't even mind all the gore because it is very very obvious when it is coming, so I just prepared myself and covered my eyes because I'm a wimp like that lol. Incredibly well directed, incredibly well acted, and a very engaging story= a very strong movie.


HOWEVER:
I struggled for a few minutes after it ended to figure out, if there was so much about the movie that I DID love, why in the end I found it so disturbing. And not disturbing in a good way- not haunting because it was sad- but disturbing in a way that turned me off. And then my mom found the perfect way to put it: she asked "what's the point?". And this is probably more to do with the show/story in general than it is to do with the movie. But I just struggled with it because I felt like this over all incredibly sad story with an incredibly depressing ending had been told and it had no purpose: no real reason why the story needed to be told. And don't get me wrong, I am NOT one of those people who doesn't like any kind of sad story. Heck, if anything I'm the opposite- a good 90% of my favorite movies and shows tear my heart to shreds and I love them for it! And I don't even mind when there's not an incredibly hopeful twist in the end- I mean, I adored Bridge to Terabithia and a lot of people were incredibly turned off by it's sad ending with no real hopefullness at all. But the difference with Bridge to Terabithia, or with other sad musicals such as RENT or Spring Awakening, is that they all have SOME kind of message to them: SOME kind of purpose for having been told. For example, in RENT the message you walk away with is the need to live every day like it is your last. In Spring Awakening, the message is that parents need to be open with their children and aware of all the emotions their children go through during adolesence. I felt like, with Sweeney Todd, there was really no reason why the story ever had to be made up. And it was very frustrating because I had come to really care about these characters, and then they came to such a grim fate and there's no explanation as to why. It felt like the story had been made simply to make the world seem darker and more unfair. And that disturbed me; much more so than the idea of the story did. I can completely handle the idea of someone slitting peoples' throats and turning them into meat pies, but the idea that a story like that is being told with no apparant reason as to why? THAT made me incredibly sad, and I have a feeling that it will be haunting me for quite a while.


Again, there was SO much about the movie and the story that I loved. But if I could, I would give anything to speak to Sonheim and simply ask him "why?" Maybe I'm just missing something, but I truly cannot find the answer. And I wish that I could, because I want SO much to not feel an over all dissapointment about this movie when it's so GREAT on so many levels.





Wow, yeah, I have to profoundly thank anyone who actually took the time to READ that whole thing :) haha. Once again, I apologize, I ramble like crazy!

[melodicminor]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:58pm

I dragged my boyfriend ( who could care less about musical theater) to see it and he LOVED IT.

I had a terrible audience. They didnt laugh once. Esspecially during "A little priest" . Not even a chuckle. Get a sense of humor people.

Speaking of humor, I'm not sure I liked carters take on lovett. I enjoy other performances I have seen where Ms. Lovett is kind of quirky, odd, a bit off, and has songs that almost break up the darkness of the story.

I did not like how she simply kept the same exact expression and way about her the entire time. Of course I am comparing her to like angela lansbury so I guess thats not fair.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 5:50pm

Just got back from seeing ST (strange way to spend Xmas morning at 10:00 am)and I'm still in shock. DEVASTATING. I've seen the show before (alas, not the original, but several revivals in NYC) and it's never made this impact on me. Depp was magnificent -- the Epiphany sequence overwhelming. I didn't miss the opening number -- it wouldn't have suited the film version, IMO. Now, about that rumored Follies --

[roquat]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 11:26pm

I've already said quite a bit about this on multiple threads, but I just want to sum up one last time before I leave the subject forever.

I was elated to hear that SWEENEY TODD was finally being adapted for the movies. Surely the scale and sweep of film would be a perfect match for the operatic, outsized grand passions of Stephen Sondheim's musical masterpiece. Just the thought of that marvellous musical score booming out from a giant screen is overwhelming. The actual movie at least provides that pleasure, but it doesn't take off, though it always seems on the verge. It's full of talent and borderline brilliant staging, but there's no passion--the overall effect is flat and oddly distanced--and stagy.

The problem starts at the conceptual level. SWEENEY is dark enough on its own; it doesn't need additional morbid "style" piled on top of it. To have a chance, it needs a director who would bring out all the humor and macabre lyricism in the story. The Tim Burton of BEETLEJUICE and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS would have been a perfect match--but, ever since SLEEPY HOLLOW, Burton has become terrribly grim and literal minded, all on one level (a bit like the post-SCHINDLER'S LIST Steven Spielberg who decided he needed to save the world instead of just entertaining it.) Burton provides a drained, oppressive visual spectrum that makes you think, for quite a stretch, that he's shooting in black and white, and with a severe shortage of light bulbs. When his Sweeney (Johnny Depp) sings, "There's a hole in the world like a great black pit", you expect his companion Anthony (Jamie Bouwer) to agree at once.

Depp makes you feel hopeful for awhile, though--he makes a magnificent entrance, looking a little like an Edwardian punk rocker. His singing and acting are compelling, and he doesn't make the mistake that some stage Sweeneys do--of coming on too hard too soon. He makes you feel what Sweeney has surrendered in his quest for revenge. There are hints of tenderness and regret all the way through--Benjamin Barker resurfacing.

But all hope vanishes once Helena Bonham Carter enters as Mrs. Lovett. Her chilly, anemic looks and delivery suggest that she got lost on the way to a ball for necrophiliacs. All the vulgar vibrancy of the character is gone, as well as any hope for levels or contrasts; her scenes with Sweeney--the bulk of the film--start to resemble a musical "Addams Family" episode, without the humor. Where is her mad elation when she figures out a practical use for Sweeney's murderous rages? She never seems to be inside the character or the movie, except for her scenes with the child Toby (Ed Sanders), who's such a determined little actor (and singer) that he pulls her into another realm (she splashes back down to earth almost instantly.) Bonham Carter is so listless and abstracted that you start to wonder about practical things such as 1) why does her pieshop, instead of improving with her fortunes, get even darker, until it resembles a seedy Greenwich Village bar? 2) Why does Sweeney's tonsorial parlor, where he receives his victims, retain its grimy, underlit look, when it's supposed to be the most popular barbershop in town? Who would enter that room, or trust him for a minute? It looks exactly like a room where you go to get killed; the actual deaths become part of the decor.

Most of the other performers work away gratefully; they have some of the meatiest roles in musical theatre, but the film's crushing obviousness infects them all. Alan Rickman's lecherous Judge is the best casting in the movie, and his perverse love duet with Depp, "Pretty Women", is the vocal and emotional highlight of the film (it's staged very simply and directly, much as it is in the stage musical.) Jayne Wisener, as Sweeney's adored lost daughter Johanna, looks and sounds like the caged bird she is meant to be, but her scenes are staged apathetically; she isn't allowed to be a ray of sunshine in the murk, enchanting us. Johanna is the battleground of SWEENEY TODD; Sweeney, Anthony, and the Judge are all obsessed with her, for their own reasons, but Wisener doesn't seem worth the effort. If someone with charm and presence had been given a crack at it (Anne Hathaway and Lauren Ambrose were reportedly considered) we might have had a stake in the action, someone to shake up and challenge Burton's cynicism. Sascha Baron Cohen and Timothy Spall make the most of their brief character roles (making them into small music-hall turns), but poor Laura Michelle Kelly is wasted as the Beggar Woman. In the stage musical, this character is a haunted, wandering presence, swinging between mournfulness and mad sluttiness; she's a constant reminder of everything Sweeney contends is wrong with this world. Her appearances here are watered down and bewildering, and oddly stagy; she shows up, drops some necessary exposition, and scuttles off. (And her age makeup is dreadful; then it suddenly disappears at the end.)

This is much more frustrating than an outright bad movie, because we come into it with such good will, wanting to be emotionally caught up, and from time to time Burton springs little surprises on us. The "By the Sea" sequence, when Mrs. Lovett fantasizes about settling down with Sweeney at the seashore, is a delight--full of verbal and visual wit (partially due to Colleen Atwood's marvellous color costumes)--it has all the levels and contrasts and twists that the other scenes are starved for. (I began to wish the entire movie had been staged like this.) And the final reprisals, when Sweeney gets his revenge (only to have it bite him in the face, literally) are brilliantly and intensely staged; at one point he dispatches a victim with the barest flick of the wrist (as if swatting a mosquito.) His last, ecstatically bloody confrontation with the Judge would have been horrifying if by that time we hadn't been subjected to too many glaringly fake throat-slashings, in closeup, with tomato soup splashing around the set. (Depp does such a number on Rickman that it's almost laughable to see the Judge, a few moments later, summoning up some final theatrical death-throes). There's a truly masterful tears-of-blood closing tableau, but it comes too late to move us.

Burton, who in the past has conjured up witty and stylized worlds just like the ones SWEENEY requires, goes fatally naturalistic here. Most of the numbers are filmed straight on, claustrophobically; there's no heightening, no real justification for singing instead of speaking (especially for Bonham Carter, whose piping, monotonous vocals might have been recorded by Miss Piggy.) Maybe no film director could really have risen to this challenge, but without the distancing and humor the best stage productions of SWEENEY provide, the events of the story are just nasty, disgusting, and banal--this movie isn't likely to win new converts to the material, because it confirms their worst assumptions. It is not enough to turn the lights down and fling pails of stage blood in our faces.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 12/26/07 at 12:13am

After several days away from the computer over the holidays, I'm ready to post my initial thoughts about Sweeney Todd, having seen it with 6 friends on Christmas Eve.

I was the only Musical Theatre fan in my group. Two others in the group enjoy some musicals. The other 4 have no strong feelings about musicals one way or another. Also, I have never seen Sweeney Todd in any form, but I knew much of the music and the story outline.

I loved this movie. The 2 other musical fans in our group were equally ecstatic about this film. One of the others didn't quite "get it", while the others were thoroughly entertained. No one in the matinee audience of about 60 walked out.

I thought that the greatest thing about the film was the performances. I especially loved Helena, and didn't mind that she wasn't the greatest singer. Depp was brilliant, as usual. As many have stated here, the music was incredibly moving. *(you must see this in a theater with state-of-the-art audio)*. I can't imagine anyone else directing this piece but Burton. I understand some people's concerns about various logistic problems. This was not a problem for me, as I saw the piece as a very dark and morbid fantasy, so I was willing to suspend all sense of reality. I was moved by the heart of this film, and I think that others who have given it positive reviews were as well. For me, this is the best movie musical of the last 10 years. I am seeing it again with another friend tomorrow, and I'll try to post a more detailed review after that.