Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) - C

"Sweeney Todd" was a major disappointment to me. Ever since the previews came out last summer, I've been telling people that somehow the idea of Johnny Depp as a singing, murderous, barber was really appealing to me. I was even more excited when the reviews for the movie were really good. Unfortunately, my reaction to "Sweeney Todd" was similar to my reaction to almost all of director Tim Burton's movies (2003's excellent "Big Fish" is the one major exception): visually appealing, but I just couldn't connect to the story or characters.

Burton's vision of London as a pit of filth, despair, and vermin is stunning. The set is wonderfully grotesque, and whenever the camera pulls back to give you a view of London as a whole, the effect is haunting. Unfortunately, that's about the only really positive thing I can say about the movie. Since I've never seen the original Sondheim musical, I'm not sure if my problems with the story and characters are the result of the musical or the movie adaptation. I found all of the major characters unlikeable and impossible to relate to, and the minor characters felt paper thin, making brief appearances to move the plot along.

I also have to question the wisdom of casting all the major parts in a musical with people whose singing talents range from passable to kind of competent. "Moulin Rouge" showed that you can make a movie musical work without having top flight singing talent with the right music and script, but the songs in "Sweeney Todd" are far more challenging. Also, even though I doubt Nicole Kidman or Ewan McGregor could carry a musical like "Sweeney Todd," they are both noticeably more talented singers than Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, or Johnny Depp. Some of the minor characters in "Sweeney Todd" clearly have a background in stage musicals, and the difference between the quality of their songs and the main character's songs is ridiculous. I can't quite make up my mind if the movie would have been better if all of the singers would have been on the level of the main characters. On the one hand, there wouldn't have been any moments where I thought "that was a really good song and really well performed," but it would also have avoided the problem that after hearing one of the good songs, listening to an uninspired Depp and Carter duet was almost like being slapped in the face.

The fine cast (I normally really like Carter, Rickman, and Depp) try their best to carry the weak storyline when they aren't forced to sing, but I felt there just wasn't much for them to work with sadly. I'm kind of shocked that Depp was nominated for an Oscar. It's not that he's bad, but his role just isn't very weighty, and didn't feel at all Oscar worthy to me. The cast did manage to keep the movie out of the "this movie sucked" range for me, but I wouldn't recommend this movie, even to lovers of musicals.

Final Grade: C