Movies

The dishonorable Judge Turpin lusts after another man's wife. To gain her undivided attention, the judge sends her husband, Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), away; a life sentence for a bogus charge. Fifteen years later a ship docks in London carrying a man once-named Barker. He now goes by Sweeney Todd and he has come back to exact his revenge and find his wife and daughter. He returns to the space he once occupied to resume his work as a barber and forms a most peculiar relationship with Mrs. Lovett, whose meat pie shop sits beneath Todd's barber chair.

The movie Sweeney Todd is based on Stephen Sondheim's musical which goes by the same name (and is in turn based on a 19th century legend of Sweeney Todd). Being that it is based on a musical, there is some conversation, but most intercourse is in song. For some, this will be the first hurdle to clear. But if you like musicals, the songs are fantastic and the signing was great. Johnny Depp really impressed me with his voice. And Ed Sanders, who plays Toby, was very very good.

Sweeney Todd would be hard pressed to earn a nickname such as the "Demon Barber of Fleet Street" without a little effort. His weapon of choice is the straight razor he uses in his barber practice. Get the men into his chair and slit their throats. This happens many times, and Director Tim Burton rivals most "B" horror flicks with the amount of blood in Sweeney Todd. This is the second, and final hurdle. If you can clear those two things, I hope you enjoy Sweeney Todd as much as I did.

As mentioned already, I thought Johnny Depp's singing was really worth seeing. I think I will be so bold as to call this his best performance to date. And consider that I am as much of a Depp fan as most.

I am not normally a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen, but I will admit that I loved his cameo in Sweeney Todd; it was very funny.

I was afraid that Tim Burton would take too much creative license and make it more like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but he did not. I loved the almost grainy feel to the film and the washed-out color, I thought it was perfect to capture the feeling of the movie.

Despite the heavy blood flow, I really enjoyed Sweeney Todd. I thought Johnny Depp was great in the lead and he had very good support from Helena Bonham Carter and Ed Sanders. This is one of the best movies I have seen this year.

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