Take a Sondheim musical, one widely regarded to be one of the most challenging ever written, and adapt it for the screen. Add a smattering of cannibalism, rape, murder and an 18-Rating. Then give all this to a cast made up largely of non-singers. You should have a recipe for disaster. And yet, in the case of Tim Burton’s latest film, Sweeney Todd, what you in fact have is an extraordinary piece of cinema.

The story revolves around London barber Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), whose happy life (not to mention his beautiful wife and baby daughter) is cruelly snatched away from him by the vicious Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). Fifteen years later Benjamin, now masquerading under the name of Sweeney Todd, arrives back in London, and is – understandably – quite angry about a lot of things. Meeting up with Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham-Carter), the owner of a shop selling ‘the worst pies in London’, Sweeney sets about rebuilding his old business, with a view to avenging all his past wrongs. And all set to music.

Burton’s Sweeney Todd has been hailed as a masterpiece by critics across the pond, and rightly so. The show seems to lend itself perfectly to the screen. There are no big chorus numbers involving dancing chimney sweeps, flower girls and street urchins or people bursting into song at inappropriate moments. The music flows naturally, almost to the point where you forget that the characters are singing at all. There have been some big changes to the original script, but cutting the 'Ballads of Sweeney Todd' and taking the chorus members out of 'God, That’s Good', a move that terrified some fans of the show, in fact means that the audience are yet more drawn in by the far more personal stories of the main characters themselves.

All of the cast make a great job of the singing. Depp’s vocals are gravelly, raw, and full of emotion, while Bonham Carter’s is softer than you might imagine, balancing him out perfectly. It’s a shame that Rickman doesn’t get more songs to wrap his voice around. Sacha Baron Cohen is wonderfully OTT as Sweeney’s rival barber, Pirelli, and his song is one of the most memorable – and colourful – moments in the film. Newcomers Jayne Wisener and Jamie Campbell-Bower as Johanna and Anthony, likewise more than hold their own with both Sondheim’s melodies and the more experienced actors around them. All of them, however, are very nearly upstaged by the youngest member of the cast, Edward Sanders as Toby, Mrs. Lovett’s Artful Dodger-esque assistant. His is definitely a name to watch for the future.

This is one of Depp’s best performances to date. His Sweeney is a man trapped, someone who has lost everything in the world except for – you guessed it – his razors. They are his one connection with the past, the only thing that has remained constant, and the means to his revenge. His eyes light up whenever he holds them, and it seems to be the only time he's really on the same planet as anyone else. And, except of course for when he's singing, his performance is mainly silent, everything being communicated through his eyes. It's haunting to say the least.

It is gruesome. The scenes of Sweeney's murders are relentless. But oddly enough, you leave the cinema not feeling grossed out, but as though you've watched a tragic love story. Look past the gore, and it's really very affecting.

Burton's masterpiece? Yep, I reckon that's fair.

by Francesca Paterson

Sweeney Todd
****

A gloriously grim depiction of old London town in the days of Fleet Streets’ illustrious barber; Sweeney Todd. The cityscape is spectacular with some amazing camera work and cinematography as we travel from the docks to Mrs Lovett’s meat pie shop.

There are at best only half a dozen musicals that I can stomach (Cabaret, and of course Trey Parker’s genius that is South Park The Movie) but one more just entered the list.

This is different. As if the Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride came to life in the shape of Sweeney Todd. I hadn’t quite realised how many numbers there have been and it must be said that it was more than expected. From the off it’s straight in to the singing and at first I did feel myself squirming uncomfortably in my seat but it almost instantly becomes pleasant background and ceases to bother me.

I haven’t seen such bloodletting since perhaps the Lone Wolf & Cub series and since Tim Burton rarely uses blood in any of his work, they really went to town with this one. At times it does look OTT but I expected nothing less quite frankly. It is quite a contrast to the bleak, black and white world that Burton creates.

Depp truly became Todd and can probably hold his head high after returning to singing. Although his composure while singing is slightly awkward, his voice honestly isn’t that bad and he soon returns to the vicious, vengeful Todd with veracity. Helena Bonham Carter shines as the calm but crazy Mrs Lovett, cooking all Todd’s customers in her world famous meat pies. Sacha Baron Cohen is pretty sharp as the barbers’ rival and previous employee, pretending to put on an Italian accent then switching to cockney in private.

The balance between the humorous, twisted, Burtonesque world and the outright brutally gory story of the Demon Barber is masterfully woven. It is a beautifully gory opera of bloodletting and brutality. It does still make me cringe to think of a cut-throat razor up to my neck in the hands of Sweeny Todd. [Shudder] That always gave me nightmares. I would appreciate almost any partnership between Tim Burton and Jonny Depp. If you’re going to see one musical this year, then this is the one.

by Ian Cook

Sweeney Todd
***

Sweeney Todd is Tim Burton’s latest film. Yet again he has teamed up with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter to make a gothic tale. The full title of this film is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and it is possibly Burton’s and Depp’s second film about barbers if you count Edward Scissorhands. Essentially this film is an adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim stage musical of the same name.
Basically Sweeney Todd was outcast from London many years ago back when he was Benjamin Barker, he returns to seek out his wife and daughter. One of the first faces he finds is Mrs. Lovett who owns the worst pie shop in London together they figure a plan on how to get revenge after all these years.

The film wasn’t quite what I expected, I love horror musicals such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Little Shop of Horrors but this was a different style of musical. The lyrics mostly weren’t sung but spoken over the music, there are a few good songs but most don’t really work.

Cinematically it looks great; Victorian London has similarities to Tim Burton’s Gotham city (Batman 1 & 2). The film is very noir but does have hints of colour through out, like a distilled Sin City.

There were some good cameos within this film such as Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G and Borat and a heap of other characters) playing a lively and overly stereotyped Spaniard, who is Todd’s rival.

This is quite different from the rest of Tim Burton’s work, it is an 18 and it is grotesque in places as Johnny Depp slices endless amounts of throats spurting blood everywhere! The rest of the Burton films have mainly been for family audiences (even though they have a much wider audience), this couldn’t be much further from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I was disappointed watching this film, but only as I hoped for so much more, particularly as a Tim Burton fan. The film did drag in places, mainly within the songs and sub-storyline. I might see it again, now that I know the style and content. It wasn’t bad, just not what I wanted to see!

by David Price

Sweeney Todd
*****

Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is a young, successful barber who finds himself unjustly transported. Fifteen years later, he lands back on British soil, hell-bent on revenge and Sweeney Todd is born. Add to this the unrequited passion of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham-Carter), a widow who owns the pie-shop below his barbers and a lethal partnership manifests.

It is a horror film. It is a musical. Tim Burton is stretching himself. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street is the cinematic rebirth of Stephen Sondheim's musical, and the most striking combination of genres since Joss Whedon interbred science fiction and western for Serenity. It adds a shiny new notch to Tim Burton's auteur legacy with all his usuals: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and a peculiar taste for the morbid.

Newcomers Jamie Campbell Bower (Anthony Hope) and Jayne Weisner (Johanna) are adept in acting and vocals but overshadowed by the greats. Alan Rickman's Judge Turpin is ruthless almost to the point of hilarity while Timothy Spall's Beadle Bamford continues Spall's legacy of playing a creepy fiend. Helena Bonham Carter's interpretation of Mrs Lovett mediates between a sense of foolishness and an intrinsic comedy. However, it is Johnny Depp who steals this show as Sweeney Todd, his every movement a testimony to a performer in absolute character, as intense as a storm and as evil as darkness itself.

The cinematic standard of the picture is extremely high, featuring one of the fastest, most unnerving establishing shots this decade in just the first ten minutes. A clever mix of cinematography (Dariusz Wolski), special effects (Ben Broadbridge), costume (Colleen Atwood) and make-up (Nana Fischer) drag the audience, kicking and screaming into Todd's pulsating, brooding London.

Stephen Sondheim's original score seeps into the bones and causes an altogether more sensory terrifying experience. Although many fans of the original will lament the loss of key songs and shortening of those which do appear, the grandiose quality of cinema exemplifies the score. As the audience watch continuous butchering the spine tingles with sharp notes on a hundred violins

Director Tim Burton knows what he is doing. At the centre of Sweeney Todd, for all of its murderous intent, all of its malign diction and comic timing, is a sweetly tragic narrative; the sad tale of a poor man who had no one on his side. And that is what Burton manages to make apparent in the film's awing conclusion. He pulls on our heartstrings, and yes, whether we came for the music or the gore, we do feel him.

by Elizabeth Amisu