After their lackluster (in my opinion, anyway) take on CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton team up again, and this time, it’s awesome!

Based on the famed Steven Sondheim musical, Sweeney Todd tells the story of a wronged barber, who teams up with a pie maker, to exact a bizarre and gruesome vengeance upon society.

Depp plays Benjamin Barker, a happy barber whose world is torn asunder when a corrupt judge, played by Alan Rickman, has Depp tossed in prison. The barber had done nothing wrong, but the judge hungrily lusts after the barber’s wife, and eventually takes her and their child.
When Depp returns to London many years later, he has changed his name to Sweeney Todd, and he hooks up with Mrs Lovett, a down on her luck pie maker. Helena Bonham Carter plays the pie maker, and as usual, she is awesome. Her voice takes a little getting used to, but it worked for me. Far from perfect, but in my opinion perfect for the movie.

Depp’s voice is actually pretty good, and again, fits the mood of the movie perfectly. The fact that he and Carter’s appearance is semi-goth and ghastly is another plus for me, as I’m into weird dark stuff. In fact, the movie as a whole has a dark, gothic look, and really sets the mood nicely.
I’m so glad Tim Burton returned to top form once again.
I love his stuff when he’s dark!

The aforementioned Alan Rickman is excellent as usual, with his unusual delivery, and another Harry Potter alum, Timothy Spall, who is really, really sleazy in the role, but very good, too.
Also in the film is Sacha Baron Cohen, yep, Borat himself, as a rival barber at odds with Sweeney Todd. He’s a little cartoony in the role, but apparently by design, so that’s well and good.
Finally, Ed Sanders plays Toby, a young assistant.
He looks familiar to me but this may be his first film. He did a great job with a pretty hard role…

The music in Sweeney Todd is pretty awesome, and rather dark and gritty for a Broadway show. (Phew!) It’s adapted from the original music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler by Christopher Bond. I was sure it was Danny Elfman, because the music was dark and stuff, but obviously the musical’s been around for a while, so nope, not this time.
Good stuff!

Sweeney Todd is pretty gory, but it’s almost too over the top to notice. It’s not the greatest film in terms of plot or characterization, but it’s good enough, and visually, and musically, it’s very entertaining.