Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

So close to a fourth star. Unfortunately though, blood and human flesh is not my thing, so I just can't give it. It certainly has Burton's weirdness, spookiness, and strangeness. The musical aspect is more than excellent. Johnny gives an incredibly good performance, Helena Bonham Carter perhaps even better. But the second half was too much for me. (27/06/2011)

Cruel and sadistic, which is why it will appeal to the era of today. It's just that sometimes I don't fit into the era of today, so I guess that's why I wasn't as impressed with Sweeney as I thought I’d be. And I was looking forward to it so much. I was expecting something different, which is fine, my ideas are always "romantic". I guess what disappointed me the most was that the story was so readable, his actions so predictable. Such a pity. But even my favorite actors and their performances didn't can’t make me give more stars... Sometimes love is cruel, but why prove it with a razor and forget it? (21/03/2008)

After a second viewing, I have to stick with three stars. Sweeney Todd simply lacks heart and its witty ending doesn’t salvage it in this sense. The violence is cold and hateful, lacking Burton’s narrative poetics (like in Sleepy Hollow, for example). Todd’s decision to become a serial killer is unjustified and doesn’t make sense. And I don’t think that the singing Johnny Depp was a good choice for the title role. The other actors, however, were superbly cast and the set designs and music are great. (30/01/2008)

I think the result would have been just as impressive without the overly explicit violence (it doesn't sit well with Burton), but otherwise I'm satisfied. Burton rocks again, with lots of his typical cynicism (here bordering on the absurd) and his unmistakable visual style, things I never get tired of. And while the music is lacking any significant melodic motif to hum along to after the film, it was a fine listen. Just like Depp's singing, which proves that you don’t need to master the range of octaves and intonation flawlessly if you have the "gift to impress" and a pleasant colour of voice, and Johnny fulfils this without fail. But the star here is someone else, the wonderful Bonham-Carter, whose cynically pragmatic Mrs Lovett was delectable. (10/02/2008)

Depp is not a flawless singer, the almost incessant barrage of songs is a bit of a shame and the eternal depression may be a bit too desired, but still a weight has been lifted off my chest. Burton took on a huge challenge that could have caught him off guard many times - to navigate through it with great bravura. And that's despite working with very unambiguous characters like a vengeful barber or a wicked judge. The master of charming oddities has decided to discard issues of accessibility and lets blood splatter, razors fly, and characters die in slums. And the increasingly tragic taste of it leaves feelings so enjoyable and stirring that I would push Tim towards another art immediately. Because handling it with the heart like this is something only a few can do. (24/02/2008)