"SWEENEY TODD"
Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman
Released: Dec. 21, 2007

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"A beautiful film with fantastic music and fantastic acting. Some scenes, however, were unbearable for me to watch, due to the extreme throat-slashing. I'm not a huge fan of extreme throat-slashing.

LET ME JUST begin by saying that "Sweeney Todd" is not at all for the faint of heart, and I am not kidding.

I usually have no problem whatsoever with gore, but I found myself covering my eyes through most of this movie. It would be a brutal understatement to say that this film was bloody.

For the first couple of hours after leaving the theater, I was in somewhat of a state of shock.

I had gone into the theater having never seen any stage version of this story, and therefore with very little idea of what to expect, and came out of it thoroughly disgusted, revolted, and with a firm resolve to never eat meat ever again (for reasons which will become apparent when you see the movie).

Even so, I really have to admit that I loved this film.

The ever-brilliant Johnny Depp plays the unfortunate Benjamin Barker, aka Sweeney Todd. We learn very early on that Barker was put in jail under false charges by the delightfully slimy Judge Turpin, played perfectly by Alan Rickman, and his snotty assistant, Beadle, portrayed by Timothy Spall in another signature role.

Turpin was in love with Barker’s wife, the very beautiful Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly), but even after her husband had been carted off to prison, she wouldn’t succumb to Turpin’s advances. She downs some arsenic and leaves her and Barker’s infant daughter, Johanna, to be adopted by the judge.

The movie begins with Barker, who has now changed his name to Sweeney Todd, returning to London after escaping prison. He was rescued by a young sailor, Anthony, played by newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower, and is now desperate to find out what has happened to his wife and daughter.

He makes his way (in a very cool sequence) through the streets to the meat-pie shop that sits below his old home and barber shop. The shop is owned by Mrs. Lovett, portrayed beautifully by Helena Bonham Carter, and Todd seeks her out to discover what happened to his family.

The news of what has become of his wife and daughter completely devastates Todd, and he resolves to get his revenge by reopening his barber shop and murdering all of his customers as they come in for a shave.

In my mind, there has never been any doubt as to the brilliance of Johnny Depp, who has always been one of my favorite actors. There has been even less doubt in my mind as to the total genius produced when Johnny Depp is directed by Tim Burton. So, needless to say, my expectations of the acting and artistry of this film were extremely high, and I was not in any way disappointed.

Depp once again proves that he can play anything, from a man with scissors for hands to a drunken pirate to a demon barber, and he plays them all extraordinarily well. Bonham Carter also shines as the love-driven meat-pie shop owner, and she and Depp form an extremely entertaining and mildly psychotic pair.

Although neither of them had more than a few months of voice training, the songs they sing together are my favorites in the film, most specifically “A Little Priest,” a little tune all about cannibalism.

The three newcomers in the movie — Campbell Bower as Anthony, Jayne Wisener as Johanna, and Ed Sanders as Toby — really impressed me, especially Sanders.

Toby is a 13- or 14-year-old boy who had been working for Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen), a rival barber of Todd’s, until Pirelli went in for a shave. Mrs. Lovett takes Toby under her wing to help her in the shop.

The boy soon becomes suspicious of the slightly creepy barber living upstairs, and quickly becomes one of the most interesting and complex characters in this film chock-full of interesting and complex characters.

Not only is the character of Toby terribly intriguing, but the actor who plays him is extraordinarily talented. He sings Sondheim like a pro, but still portrays a lovable innocence with his still boyish and unchanged voice. He really makes you fall in love him, which makes for quite an emotional rollercoaster later on.

One thing I did not enjoy about this film was the amount of blood. The thing was, it didn’t look like real blood. It was much too bright, too orange, to be real. This, for me anyway, probably made it worse. It was just a little more chilling to see this unnatural substance spurting out of the necks of Todd’s victims than it might have been to see it look more realistic.

The blood does, however, provide a very striking, almost beautiful contrast to the perfect darkness of the rest of the movie, which is perhaps the reason it’s colored the way it is. Even so, the fact that the blood doesn't look real takes away from the film, and instead of being totally horrifying, some scenes are just downright funny.

In the end, this is a story that manages to make a serial killer the hero, so even when he is mercilessly murdering random people, you find yourself praying that he doesn’t get caught. I really can’t think of a better director to take on such a challenge than Burton, and he does not disappoint.

You’ll be disgusted, nauseated, and horrified, with a soundtrack of fantastically disturbing and chilling songs running through your head, but you'll also be thrilled, enthralled, and thoroughly moved. You may never want to see it again, but you know you’ll never forget "Sweeney Todd."

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is currently playing at the GKC Beverly 18, 910 Meijers Drive, Champaign, and the Goodrich Savoy 16, 232 W. Burwash, Savoy.

"SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET" AT A GLANCE

• Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman
• Directed by: Tim Burton
• Written by: John Logan (screenplay); Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler (musical); Christopher Bond (musical adaptation)
• Genre: Crime/Musical/Thriller
• Rated: R for graphic, bloody violence
• Runtime: 117 min
• Release date: Dec. 21, 2007
• Summary: An unjustly convicted man escapes from prison and exacts revenge as a barber whose place of business is conveniently located above a meat-pie shop.
• Now showing: GKC Beverly 18, Goodrich Savoy 16
• External sites: IMDb entry, official site
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