Film Review: Sweeney Todd

I have always loved collaborations between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton....throw in a little of Helen Bonham Carter and i'm in film critic heaven. There is something amazing about that sort of combination. wow!

So it was with great expectation (and a little anxiety) that i went to see Sweeney Todd. My anxiety stemmed from the fact that i do not like lots of blood and gore. I'm actually quite against it. Tim has the habit of using this technique and i was warned beforehand that it would be there.

I took a deep breath and plunged into the unknown.

Turns out i shouldn't have worried. The film was a great allegory about what happens to people when they obsess about revenge. (true, this tale has been done by The Count of Monte Cristo...but this is a more edgy version) There is Tim's signature "let's see how much blood we can spray at the audience", but you can see it coming and i managed to avoid the spay every time by one. He balances the allegory with humour and more than a little bit of darkness then sprinkles the entire thing with SONGS. The songs are probably the most disturbing part of the film. Not because they are not done well, but because they start singing at points you've never seen anyone sing at before. When's the last time you went to see an action film that as soon as the action started the hero burst into song?...its been a while, huh? Well, that is why the songs are disturbing.

Over all i'd have to say another excellent production by a very talented team. It was so nice to see a story that was more than just a story, and yet do it in such a way as to keep me guessing what the film makers would do next.

Having said that, however, it was not one of my favourite films. In fact, while i am glad to have seen it once, i probably will not see it again. The film as a whole was a bit too depressing to watch a second time...perhaps next time i'm in a depressing mood i may change my mind, but for the moment, once was enough. Plus, the some of the musical scenes are a bit drawn out. I did not feel that i needed dialogue repeated to get the point and there were some numbers that i felt dragged a bit because they kept repeating concepts.

Kristin's rating: 7/10