How about a shave?

NOTE: This review is for the 2-Disk Special Edition DVD of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

I first saw Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in December 2007 when it was in theaters. I didn't know what to expect, but I really like Broadway Musicals, and I like the actors in the film and Tim Burton, the director, so I basically figured I was bound to love it! And boy, was I correct in that assumption! Sweeney Todd is now one of my favorite musicals and hands-down my favorite movie musical. I was unsure of which DVD to buy: Special Edition or regular, but a quick glance at the back cover of the Special Edition DVD convinced me to spend the few extra dollars.

PLOT
The tale of Sweeney Todd is a tragic one that many people will already know. The year is in the ambiguous mid 1800s. Benjamin Barker a.k.a Sweeney Todd(played by Johnny Depp) has returned to London with the help of a Sailor named Antony(played by Jamie Campbell Bower) after having been sent away in exile for 20 years for a crime he didn't commit by Judge Turpin (played by Alan Rickman) who had a thing for Barker's beautiful wife. Sweeney returns to the building of his former Barber Shop to find that a Mrs. Lovett (played by Helena Bonham Carter) now owns a Meat Pie Emporium there, selling the "worst pies in London". Mrs. Lovett tells Sweeney that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by Judge Turpin and that Turpin now keeps Sweeney's daughter, Johanna as his ward, locked away in his large house. The news infuriates Sweeney with vengeful rage and, with Mrs. Lovett's help, he opens up his Barber shop upstairs from her Meat Pie Emporium, and lures "customers" into his shop with his fantastic shaving skills, but rather than shaving his customers' faces, he slits their throats, going on a slasher rampage. Mrs. Lovett becomes his business partner, grinding up Sweeney's dead victims and baking them in her meat pies. Soon business is booming, but Sweeney is still not satisfied...

ABOUT THE FILM
Do not be scared away by the title or plot - this is fantastic film. It is comedy, horror, and also an operatic musical! Many people will have Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece musical in mind when they see Sweeney Todd, but Tim Burton's movie is a completely transformed version of the stage hit, although Sondheim did have a say in the music of this film. Some songs/verses from the stage musical were omitted or slightly changed to fit better withing the movie. The songs are still very operatic, however they are toned down in the movie, probably for greater audience acceptance and understanding.

Unlike many other movie musicals, Sweeney Todd does not have very much stand-alone dialog; all the characters' feelings and thoughts are portrayed in song. Personally, I find this style much more appealing than lots of dialog and random bursts into song. The songs flow beautifully into one another, so that there is always music playing, but you soon don't realize that it is music because you are consumed in the tragic and emotional story.

The setting is a very dark and grimy London, and it seems that everything/everyone in the movie is almost colourless, especially Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett who are very pale with dark, sunken eyes. The look and feel of the set makes the movie seem straight out of a nightmare; everything seems cold and distant. Therefore, much emphasis and interest is created with anything colourful, such as Sweeney's daughter, Johanna, or the blood in the movie.

It should definitely be said that this film contains a lot of "graphic bloody violence". However, the blood that comes out when victims' throats are slashed by Sweeney's razors is rather unrealistic - almost comically so. There are only 8 pints of blood in a human body, but there is a lot of unrealistically bright red blood that squirts straight out, even on the camera, of the victims' necks. Sweeney Todd is a horror movie, but in a more retro horror movie style than the modern, graphic, torture-ridden horror films. And, unlike many violent slasher movies, all the violence in Sweeney Todd is seen as sad and tragic rather than particularly scary. The viewer never sees Sweeney as a monster, but rather empathizes with him through the emotional songs and feels sorry for him and his insatiable yearning for revenge.

Although this is Tim Burton's first musical, I feel that he has unlocked a very musical part of himself in this film. Al l the movements of the characters and even the cameras is so well in sync with the music, it is hard to believe this is his first one!

THE ACTORS
None of the actors in Sweeney Todd are professional singers. This (rightfully) makes most people skeptical; however the skepticism is soon lost when they hear the actor's amazing voices. Who knew Johnny Depp could sing!? (What CAN'T he do?) Depp's voice has an almost rockstar-edge to it, and he puts a lot of emotion into the Sweeney Todd songs. You can feel the rage coming from the songs, and they are fantastic!
It seems like the casting director went to the set of Harry Potter movies and picked through the Harry Potter cast for Sweeney Todd! There are 3 main characters (Mrs Lovett, Judge Turpin, and Beadle Bamford) played by actors commonly known for their roles in Harry Potter (Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Timothy Spall), and surprisingly, they are all good singers too!

Helena Bonham Carter, also Tim Burton's girlfriend, does a swell job as Mrs. Lovett, as she has some of the hardest songs in the musical to sing; as you will see in the Special Features, Sondheim leaves her no breathing room in some songs. She plays a very different Mrs. Lovett than the one in the stage musical; in the movie, she is portrayed as more caring, even motherly, rather than the goofy comedic Mrs. Lovett in the stage musical, making the movie slightly less funny than the stage musical. Because she is downplayed in the movie, it gives more focus on Sweeney Todd.

Sacha Baron Cohen, known for his comedy Borat, plays a hilarious character, Signor Pirelli, who is a sort of rival Barber to Sweeney Todd. He gives a very surprising performance, hitting notes noone would have ever guessed he could do! He is surely a great singer; I hope he continues with musical characters in the future!

Alan Rickman plays Judge Turpin, a cruel Judge who sentences even children to death. He is the one Sweeney Todd most wants to kill for revenge of his own imprisonment, and also for his wife and daughter. At times he is a very creepy character, much like Severus Snape that he plays in Harry Potter, and at others he seems strangely pleasant! Judge Turpin's right-hand man, Beadle Bamford, is played by Timothy Spall, known for playing weasel-y villains, such as Peter Pettigrew in Harry Potter, and his character Beadle Bamford is no different: an evil little man who somehow finds himself to be incredibly attractive(what a laugh!).

One really remarkable singer is young boy, Toby, played by a very unknown actor named Ed Sanders. Based on his beautiful performances in Sweeney Todd, I would have to predict that this kid is going places! He plays a fantastic Toby - much better than the stage musical Toby, who wasn't as young and had a rather creepy voice, Ed Sanders' Toby is young, confident, and caring, especially for Mrs. Lovett who he works for in her Meat Pie shop.
The cast also contains other notable unknowns: Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Anthony(the sailor who Sweeney returned to London with, and who also hopes to rescue Johanna, Sweeney's Daughter) sings one of the most beautiful songs in the movie, "Johanna", and it is marvelous; comparable to the original in the stage musical. Also, Jayne Wisener, another unknown, plays Johanna, Sweeney's Daughter. She has the most operatic voice of the cast, and sings a lovely soprano song entitled "Green Finch and Linnet Bird", describing her feelings of being caged up in Judge Turpin's home.

WHO WILL ENJOY IT?
It is sort-of hard to say who will or will not like Sweeney Todd. The people next to me in the theater were all elderly women and they loved it, saying it was "wonderful", but my roommate refuses to watch it because she thinks it will give her nightmares. Fans of the musical will either love it or hate it, depending on if they accept that it is different from the stage musical but still fantastic, or if they focus on the differences, much like movies based off books, where some people enjoy the differences and others complain "the book is better". Personally, I love the movie and the stage musical, and can find good and better things about each of them. (Example: The endings of both are equally powerful and amazing, just in distinctly different ways; Toby's singing is much better in the movie; Mrs. Lovett is much more amusing in the stage musical; Etc.)

People who are easily disgusted by blood probably shouldn't watch Sweeney Todd, even though the blood is highly unrealistic. Watching the Special Feature on the DVD about blood should make it less frightening, because they show all the steps they took in making the blood in the film. The movie is rated R for "Graphic Bloody Violence" so children are a definite "no" as well as anyone else who would not typically watch a rated R horror film. (Except for special cases, such as more mature teenagers).

The goth-loving "Hot Topic" crowd will eat it up. People who like Tim Burton's other films should also really enjoy it. If you like musicals in general, or if you like horror movies and slashers, chances are you will really enjoy this. If you are open-minded movie-lover in general, I think you will also really like Sweeney Todd.

SPECIAL FEATURES
This 2-DVD Special Edition of Sweeney Todd is PACKED with special features. On Disk 1, there is a behind-the-scenes feature called Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd that contains lots of interesting behind-the-scenes footage from "rehearsals, recording sessions, and more." Disk 2 contains even more interesting features: Sweeney is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber, in which the true legend is discussed and revealed; Musical Mayhem: Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, which is about the original musical; Sweeney's London ; The Making of Sweeney Todd; Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition, Designs for a Demon Barber, which has some interesting information on the fantastic costumes created for the cast; A Bloody Business, which shows how they made the blood effects when Sweeney slashed throats; and more features such as a MovieFone Unscripted with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. The interviews and behind-the-scenes information are particularly interesting, because you get to hear the actors' and director's perspective on the movie and it really makes you appreciate their work more. I never realized how difficult some of the songs in the film were to sing until I watched the Special Features! They are some great Special Features, making it totally worth the few extra dollars for the Special Edition version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Main Feature Run Time: 116 Mins
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish