We went to see Sweeny Todd over the weekend, for those of you who were not aware it is the film of the musical.
It was actually better than I had been expecting, the score by Stephen Sondheim is excellent and at some points quite humorous yet the subject is dark and menacing and that is were the skill of Tim Burton comes in. Hubby wasn’t too keen in the dark way it was set, often in almost a sepia tone, I on the other hand felt it added to and helped tell the story. For those Johnny Depp fans out there, I think this is his best performance at last he is taking on a character bigger than him and he has to act rather than mess about. However for my money it was Helena Bonham Carter who stole the show, her portrayal of Mrs Lovett made you constantly sway from liking to loathing her.
This film is full of blood and gore and as such has been given an 18 certification, however having said that I have seen worse and certainly similar things with lower certifications, there are parts when Tim Burton has made the killings almost humorous. I think there certification is down to one scene, so if you are squeamish but still want to go and see it just look away before he finally does Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) in.
The singing what about the singing I hear you cry, after all it is a musical. Well I was pleasantly surprised by Helena Bonham Carter’s voice and while Hubby got tired of Johnny Depps monotone singing voice near the end, I felt it suited the character he was portraying down to the ground. Alan Rickman and Timoty Spall voices are both adequate while the youngster Ed Sanders as Toby is excellent, the only voice I felt was weak was that of Jamie Bower (Anthony) when he sang by himself, but then I struggled with how he portrayed the whole character. That being said I would certainly recommend the film to those who don’t mind a bit of blood and gore, and the soundtrack I plan to buy very soon.
