Since I usually don’t watch musicals, I have mixed feelings about Sweeney Todd. I have seen Johnny Depp in a previous musical he did in the John Waters directed 1990 comedy/musical, Cry-Baby. I did enjoy that film and I have always enjoyed Johnny Depp’s body of work. He is a very charismatic and talented actor.
Johnny Depp along with Helena Bonham Carter, Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen), Beadle (Timothy Spall), Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), Alan Rickman, Jayne Wisener, and Ed Sanders as Toby all do a great job singing the various songs in Sweeney Todd 2007 version.
Johnny Depp is a very good singer and does have actual musical talent since he has had his own rock band in real life and performed with various rock bands such as Aerosmith. Some of the songs do get a bit tiresome such as “My Friends”, where Depp is singing to his razors. I just thought that part was a bit silly and drawn out.
My favorite songs are the upbeat sounding “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” sung by young Ed Sanders and his duet with Helena Bonham Carter with the song “Not While I’m Around”. I also liked the “Worst Pies in London” song done by Helena Bonham Carter. She has a very lovely singing voice. Ed Sanders is very talented and confident with his singing and acting in Sweeney Todd 2007.
I’m not familiar with the previous versions of this musical. I have only seen this one and can’t judge the quality of Sweeney Todd 2007 by comparing it to past versions. It is an entertaining film at times, but it is a bit too long at close to 2 hrs. The acting for the most part was excellent.
Alan Rickman was good as usual in this playing another slimy character. Johnny Depp and Helena Bohnam Carter were excellent in their roles. It is pretty bad how Mr.Todd treats Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd and by the end of the movie you’re going to lose all sympathy for Mr. Todd as his madness consumes him. It was a bit odd seeing Sacha Baron Cohen doing a non comedic role such as this as the Italian Adolfo Pirelli. He looked a bit awkward and robotic in his role. I was shocked when I find out Toby ends up being a killer the first time I saw this film.
Tim Burton as a director often adds a dark, gothic, and a weird touch to the movies he directs and Sweeney Todd 2007 is no different. The cinematography and atmosphere is very dark. Everyone is very pale looking wearing Victorian era clothing. The scenes have a grim coloring showing that it was a dark time to live. Sweeney Todd 2007 has a lot of blood and gore. The murder scenes are very brutal and are akin to a slasher horror movie. The blood also squirts all over the place, which is similar to the Japanese film Shogun Assassin.
I was initially drawn to Sweeney Todd 2007 by the actors that are in it such as Johnny Depp and Helena Bohnam Carter. However it’s not as good as some other Tim Burton films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Sleepy Hollow. Perhaps it’s because I generally don’t watch musicals and I’m not familiar with the play or the previous versions of Sweeney Todd.
I wasn’t really interested in the music since most of it isn’t catchy sing along type stuff except for the ones I mentioned I liked. I did like the dark setting, colors, blood and violence in the film. The film is also very slow paced and could use a reduction in length. You wouldn’t watch this film over and over again, but it’s a decent watch on a rainy day.