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Rich's Rating
To promote this new Tim Burton musical, Dreamworks sponsored a sneak preview for "the goth community." This must have been both problematic (Did everyone in black get in, or were prospective attendees grilled on Bauhaus?) and trendsetting (Coming up: Sneak previews for jocks!). One might say that no self-respective goth would go for such a thing, but many were probably waiting in the shadows, eager to mock; the one thing every goth has in common is the elitist opinion that others are not "real goths!" In an odd pair of opening day news stories, absinthe was re-legalized, and Sacha Baron Cohen declared that his alter ego Borat was retired. (Cohen's loutish character is Todd's first victim.)
Anyway, on to the movie. Christmas is an odd time to open such a film, one so dark that it makes "I Am Legend" seem like "Fred Claus." The marketing has led prospective viewers to believe that the film is a lark, when it's actually more like "Saw" with songs. The tone is established early on, when Todd (a suitably morose Johnny Depp) attempts to extinguish the optimism of a young man by telling him, with a mixture of pity and scorn, "You'll learn." And learn he does, this young man, as he encounters a London of rogues and louts, a black-hearted city with nary a kindred soul to be found. Meanwhile, the demon barber, just released from prison, sets out for revenge.
He sets up shop above a piemaking establishment, swiftly progressing from vengeful murderer to serial killer, justifying his actions by declaring that everyone deserves to die. (One wonders how he ever gets customers, considering that only two seem to make it out alive.) Helena Bonham Carter, as the piemaker, discovers that humans are the other white meat. She attempts to woo Todd but withholds from him a terrible secret. There's also an evil judge (Alan Rickman) and his toady accomplice (Timothy Spall, who played virtually the same role in "Enchanted").
The film is lensed in gun-metal tones, breaking pallette only for a candy-coated interlude, which finds Depp and Bonham Carter stolling the boulevard and lounging around in pajama-like swimsuits. This fantasy sequence is exposed for being just that - a pipe dream - and reality is soon restored, making the film's circumstances seem all the more cruel. This echoes the film's opening shot, in which a lovely, delicate snowfall turns swiftly to blood. And more blood will follow: fountains, geysers, bucketloads. The film's excessive nihilism brings to mind the ancient story of Abraham, who pleaded with God to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. "What if there are a hundred good men to be found?" asked Abraham. "What if there are ten?" There were, in fact, none to be found outside of Abraham. Todd's young friend is this film's Abraham, but his hopes are eventually exposed as naivete. When he rescues Todd's beautiful "yellow-haired" daughter, she tells him that she will "never be able to escape from her ghosts."
I must admit that the acting was solid, and that the cast, especially Depp, turned out to be pretty good at singing. But a movie that begins with blood and ends with blood would have been much more suited for Halloween. "Sweeney Todd" is a good horror film and a halfway-decent musical, but a terrible holiday movie.
For show times at Sayville Movie Theatre click here.
Be the first to sound off! Sign up or sign in to give your opinion.
To promote this new Tim Burton musical, Dreamworks sponsored a sneak preview for "the goth community." This must have been both problematic (Did everyone in black get in, or were prospective attendees grilled on Bauhaus?) and trendsetting (Coming up: Sneak previews for jocks!). One might say that no self-respective goth would go for such a thing, but many were probably waiting in the shadows, eager to mock; the one thing every goth has in common is the elitist opinion that others are not "real goths!" In an odd pair of opening day news stories, absinthe was re-legalized, and Sacha Baron Cohen declared that his alter ego Borat was retired. (Cohen's loutish character is Todd's first victim.)
Anyway, on to the movie. Christmas is an odd time to open such a film, one so dark that it makes "I Am Legend" seem like "Fred Claus." The marketing has led prospective viewers to believe that the film is a lark, when it's actually more like "Saw" with songs. The tone is established early on, when Todd (a suitably morose Johnny Depp) attempts to extinguish the optimism of a young man by telling him, with a mixture of pity and scorn, "You'll learn." And learn he does, this young man, as he encounters a London of rogues and louts, a black-hearted city with nary a kindred soul to be found. Meanwhile, the demon barber, just released from prison, sets out for revenge.
He sets up shop above a piemaking establishment, swiftly progressing from vengeful murderer to serial killer, justifying his actions by declaring that everyone deserves to die. (One wonders how he ever gets customers, considering that only two seem to make it out alive.) Helena Bonham Carter, as the piemaker, discovers that humans are the other white meat. She attempts to woo Todd but withholds from him a terrible secret. There's also an evil judge (Alan Rickman) and his toady accomplice (Timothy Spall, who played virtually the same role in "Enchanted").
The film is lensed in gun-metal tones, breaking pallette only for a candy-coated interlude, which finds Depp and Bonham Carter stolling the boulevard and lounging around in pajama-like swimsuits. This fantasy sequence is exposed for being just that - a pipe dream - and reality is soon restored, making the film's circumstances seem all the more cruel. This echoes the film's opening shot, in which a lovely, delicate snowfall turns swiftly to blood. And more blood will follow: fountains, geysers, bucketloads. The film's excessive nihilism brings to mind the ancient story of Abraham, who pleaded with God to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. "What if there are a hundred good men to be found?" asked Abraham. "What if there are ten?" There were, in fact, none to be found outside of Abraham. Todd's young friend is this film's Abraham, but his hopes are eventually exposed as naivete. When he rescues Todd's beautiful "yellow-haired" daughter, she tells him that she will "never be able to escape from her ghosts."
I must admit that the acting was solid, and that the cast, especially Depp, turned out to be pretty good at singing. But a movie that begins with blood and ends with blood would have been much more suited for Halloween. "Sweeney Todd" is a good horror film and a halfway-decent musical, but a terrible holiday movie.
For show times at Sayville Movie Theatre click here.
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