Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tim Burton: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (US/GB 2007). Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd.

Sweeney Todd: Fleet Streetin paholaisparturi / Sweeney Todd (Swedish title). 

    US/GB © 2007 DreamWorks / Warner Bros. D: Tim Burton. Based on the musical (1979) by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book). DP: Dariusz Wolski - shot on 35 mm Panavision DeLuxe - digital intermediate master format - 35 mm screening format. PD: Dante Ferretti. Starring: Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin), Timothy Spall (Beadle Bamford), Sacha Baron Cohen (Adolfo Pirelli). 

    116 min

    Rated 18 in Finland.

    Released by Sandrew Metronome Distribution Finland, Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Janne Staffans. 

    Viewed at Tennispalatsi 3, Helsinki, 7 March 2008. 

Top talent in a top production. The actors sing themselves, quite well. The digital look is consistent and aesthetically well-judged. This splatter musical has gotten top reviews, but I'd like to comment that it is 40 minutes too long and although Depp is intense, it's a one-note performance. The story of the man brutalized by vengeance is familiar in horror movies; I expected more. Helena Bonham Carter at her best on her journey to the dark side. I keep thinking that she's never recovered from the remark of Eddy and Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous where they call Saffron, Eddy's highly proper daughter, "Helena Bonham Carter". She has spent years to demolish that image.