That Tim Burton directed Stehpan Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD ought to have been a marriage made in heaven. With Johnny Depp as the Demon Barber with the metaphoric extension of his EDWARD SCISSORHANDS into a razor, this ought to have been a layup. Unfortunately, SWENEY TODD is considerably short of heavenly.
In spite of an impressive production design, London rats and all, the
demands of the film medium, no matter how stylized, still require more verisimilitude than a stage production. The absense of expository detail, the omission of "The Ballad if Sweeney Todd" only makes the incredible Sondheim score- which worked so well on stage- somewhat interruptive, no matter how much Johnny Depp is as a singer. Things that don't work on a literary lever that this truncated fim demends are the romance between the vagabond sailor and Joanna, and, since Burton is so intent on the Edwardian revenge theme, the ghoulish fun of the Sondheim original of Mrs. Lovett's
entreprenurial bakery with cannibalistic pastries is mostly missing.
And with the trimming of both plot and melolies, The climax of Sweeney Todd's tragic awareness seems underdeveloped. I did not feel for him at his moment of discovery and death.
Nevertheless, I liked the film The production design , as one might
expct from Tim Burton, was outstanding. Both Depp and Bonham-Carter were effective, as were Alan Richman as the evil Judge and Mike Leigh stalwart Timothy Spall as the Beadle. And one cannot complain about the basic story and what remained of the Sondheim lyrics.
But - given the level of talent - and, indeed, genius, that went into
the film, it is a disappointment.
LINDSAY SHAH SAYS:
"I walked into Sweeney Todd after a month of anticipation. Tim Burton is one of my personal heroes. Yes...his films are
outward in their cartoonish darkness...but the way in which he
creates a universe out of this could-be superficial aesthetic, I find
multi-layered.
The music which the film began with seemed promising...
I don't think I have to finish this sentence,
but 'seemed' is the obvious key word.
The set design and costumes were flawless in their filthy, deconstructed style...simply what one expects walking into a Burton film. I felt that the style is too recycled by this film that the magic is left behind.
I felt myself desiring the inspiration that Burton gave me no choice but to own when these aesthetics were definitive.
The acting was not flawed, but this does not save the film.
As with many of Burton's films, I felt that the story was secondary.
I long for the idyllic day when the amazing aesthetics of Burton
merge with a writer who sees his universe in verse.
To conclude, I am an openly biased hater of musicals (!)
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