Sweeney Todd - Reviews

[pratt55]

Two weeks ago hubby55 and son went to Rocky Horror Picture Show and received Advanced Screening tickets for Sweeney Todd for Tuesday, December 4, 2007. They were warned in advance to arrive early as seating would be limited and that more tickets would be given away than seats.

The invites:



The movie was to start at 7:00 so we arrived at the theater at 4:00 and we were about the 20th people in line but since many of the people ahead of us were holding spots in line for others by the time they let us in we were about 50 people deep. I am glad we did arrive when we did because many people were turned away from seeing it.

I had never seen or really knew anything about Sweeney Todd other than it was a Broadway Musical so I came in with completely fresh eyes. To summarize it is a about a barber whose life had been destroyed 15 years earlier by another man who wanted his beautiful wife. He comes back to London to Fleet Street where he used to live which now has a meat pie maker business that is failing. These two come together, he for vengeance and the pie maker for his love and for the business. The barber is now crazy and the pie maker is not all there either.

Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd and while onscreen you cannot take your eyes off of him. He is riveting and memorizing as the crazy barber. He made me feel sorry for him while at the same time he was doing heinous things. You can easily get caught up by his anger and yet at the same time he has a very unique comedic approach to some portions where the audience just laughed at parts that were rather bloody. His singing was good although I would not have thought of him as a singer.

Helena Bonham Carter is Mrs. Lovett the pie maker. Many of her prior films she has bugged me for some odd reason but not this time. She was great, her love for Sweeney was perfect while still showing a tad bit of insanity on her part.

Other members of the cast were also outstanding, although Jamie Campbell Bower who plays Anthony Hope reminded me of Hilary Swank.

I loved the movie. Although I usually like Tim Burton’s movies they are usually a one time thing for me and then grow on me later. This movie is a great from the get go. It definitely has repeat viewing potential as I heard most of the audience say that they would definitely be seeing it again when it comes out in general release. This movie can easily be called a musical, drama, comedy, love story, and slasher movie. Two of my favorite scenes also happened to be some of the other audience members which includes the second set of scenes with Sacha Baron Cohen and the beach scene. It is very bloody and I did cringe a lot as I do not like bloody/scary movies but for this movie it works.

I think it will be the hit of the year.

I asked my 18 year old son to write a review and this is what he gave me:

Sweeney Todd is by far the best movie to come to the big screen in 2007. In my opinion this movie was and is Tim Burton's greatest achievement in his career and that is saying a lot. The movie captivated me and took me along on its magical ride. After you see it you will want to go back and watch it again, it is just that good.

Hubby’s review:

I love musicals. I love Tim Burton movies. I love dark themed stories
with macabre humor and tragic twists. Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd has
it all. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are fantastic as is
the entire cast. I will unquestionably go see this again and then buy the DVD when it becomes available.

Some swag that was given out included this postcard.



Plus we got some posters and stickers.

[Dustysage]

OMG - I can't wait. Thank you for the wonderful review. I've added a poll so folks who have seen the film in previews can start rating it.

- Sweeney Sage
The Demon Admin of MiceChat

[sir clinksalot]

I so can't wait to see this. Thanks for the review.

[SusieP.]

I'm so excited! Lucky you!

[Barbossa]

- Sweeney Sage
The Demon Admin of MiceChat

lol, nice touch. I'm looking forward to this movie too.

[pratt89]

My review doesn't do the movie justice. it is simply amazing.

[thrax]

glad the movie was good i can't wait to see it

[Alice's Wonderland]

I'm very jealous. I also have a question- how bloody was it? And was it icky realistic looking bloody or weird-over-the-top kill bill bloody? Or somewhere in between?

[dsnylndmom]

Thanks for the review! I so can't wait to see this

[Fantasmico!]

Sweeny Todd has long been one of my most favorite stage musicals. But I am on the fence about seeing the movie because of all the blood. Granted the blood is essential, but I am not a fan of slasher flicks. So how bad is it?

Damn you Tim Burton!!

[Xharryb]

Thanks for the review! I've been seeing quite a few early reviews pop up this week and every one has been good, so I can't wait to see it for myself.

[pratt55]

I'm very jealous. I also have a question- how bloody was it? And was it icky realistic looking bloody or weird-over-the-top kill bill bloody? Or somewhere in between?

It was bloody but after the first death it becomes very over-the-top even more so than Kill Bill bloody. I HATE scary slasher movies and although there were a few cringe moments for me everyone else in the audience was laughing. I would not recommend taking children to see it.

[Ginarella]

Love all your goodies and green with envy.

I'm so happy you liked the movie. I can't wait to see it ,I'm practically jumping out of my skin.

[flotsam_mike]

I saw it last night at a sneak preview for work. I come from a different perspective from the OP in that I love the orignial musical so I had a little bit of a different take.

No Plot spoilers, but some notes on style.

Ultimately I liked it, but didn't love it. It definitely held my attention and I left with a big grin on my face, but there was something missing for me that didn't push me over the edge into complete love. Perhaps this was because I knew the story very well going in to the movie. I think people to whom the story is new will get a big kick out of this version.

Burton remains true to the story while compacting it to a movie length, something I think was done masterfully. The majority of the songs are included or alluded to. Burton was also able to bring out the humor in the story in a way that added to, rather than detracted from the story.

The singing - Compared to the broadway versions, the actors in the movie cannot hold a candle. There are some soaring notes in the play that always gave me chills. These are definitely missing from the movie. The vocals in the movie have a different tone (a bit more pop maybe?). Once I settled in and adjusted to the style, I found I was able to enjoy the singing and not make comparrisons. I also thought that Johnny Depp had a little bit of trouble at injecting emotion into his songs and acting while singing. Not to the point it was horrible, but it flattened some of the songs a bit.

Violence - Bloody, but no vicera. That's good in my book and stuck to the Grand Guignol style of the play.

Costuming - Um....did anyone else notice that some of the male characters had um...very tight trousers? This was almost distracting and seemed like a concious decision. Wondering why though?

The last 15 minutes - The last 20 minutes of the play are all sung and it creates such an unbeievable amount of tension that I am on the edge of my seat and left breathless. The movie splits up some of the music and action that happens in these last minutes and I felt it diminished the tension a bit. Don't get me wrong, the end delivers, but the feeling of tension is different.

[pratt55]

I am glad you included your review from the point of seeing in its 'natural state' on stage. I had wondered how different it was from the play. After seeing the movie I now want to see the play whereas before the movie there were other plays that were more a priority for me.

As far as costuming I really did not notice the tight trousers but I am more than willing to watch for this on Christmas Day when we see it again.