I loved it. Certain elements of it reminded me of Sleepy Hollow, which I also loved, but I think Sweeny Todd is the better movie. The dark humor works better. And the cast is superb. I didn’t even know Rickman was in the movie before I saw it. Depp and Carter were brilliant, of course. They do play crazy quite well. I went in with very little idea of the plot (only what I’d gathered from the previews) so the end was a bit of a surprise, but I guess it was appropriate. The singing was decent as well. I’m usually not a fan of musicals but this one worked for me.
I don’t think I’ll be able to eat a meat pie for quite a while, though.
I just came back from it, and loved it. The lady I went with noticed that 2 types of people left the theatre-those that were expecting an opera and came out shocked, and those that were expecting a horror movie and came out singing!
It was a lovely Christmas film…lots of red and you could almost smell the aroma of those hearty meat pies.
We liked the film a lot.
Having never seen the Broadway musical, or knowing how the story ended, it was quite entertaining from beginning to end and the music was great; then again, it was from Sondheim so I shouldn’t be surprised that it was excellent.
I wonder if they will translate the songs into other languages when it plays in foreign countries, or will they use subtitles? If they use subtitles, I pity the poor schmucks trying to read 100 words a minute on the screen…
I liked the movie, and I thought the movie mixed humor and grotesquerie very nicely. It fit Burton’s style. Bonham-Carter did particularly well, I think, even though I didn’t get her hair. As for the singing… it wasn’t bad. Depp, Bonham-Carter and Rickman generally faked it well enough for a casual listener, and as someone who didn’t know the show I mean me. That said, it’s easy to see where their effort wouldn’t be enough for musical theater fans. They were certainly not Broadway quality, and while they all acted pretty well, the singing didn’t match. The big finish of “Epiphany” was particularly undersung, which was a shame. Overall I did enjoy it, however.
That’s pretty much my reaction too. I wasn’t very familiar with the show (everything I knew about Sweeney Todd I learned from Jersey Girl) and didn’t know the songs. I was suprised to find that I didn’t care for the music all that much, but I fully realize that’s just me, because it is well-loved, and I know that the music may grow on me. Depp and Bonham Carter were great at acting their role, decent (iow, good enough for me) at singing their roles. I loved the story and how very very dark it was. I also loved the look of it. I’ll see it again.
Something I could see coming a mile away:
Funny, while Sweeny killing Mrs. Lovett and the kid killing Sweeney surprised me, I knew from the first second I saw that crazy old lady that she was Mrs. Barker. And that was before I visited the IMDB page and saw “Laura Michelle Kelly … Lucy/Beggar Woman”
I am a big fan of the musical, having seen 4 different productions, and am mostly familiar with the Len Cariou/Angela Lansbury version. While the vocals were obviously not as strong as the Broadway version, they were not bad and they fit the more muted acting style very well. That said, I was very impressed with Toby’s singing! This was the first time that the character has actually been played by a boy, rather than a boyish looking adult (Ken Jennings was 32 when he played Toby in the original!) and I was afraid of what might result, but he really does have an impressive voice.
From the first opening note of the organ music blaring behind the Dreamworks logo, I was hooked! While the vocals were not the best, the orchestrations have never sounded stronger and I loved hearing all the underscoring that was added. The only things I missed were all the choral moments. Not having them didn’t take away from the film as a whole, I just missed them because they are some of my favorite lyrical moments, like
City on fire!
Rats in the grass,
And the lunatics yelling on the streets!
It’s the end of the world, yes!
I do wish that they had kept the final Ballad to be sung over the end credits, and I’m sad that “Kiss Me/Ladies In Their Sensitivities” was cut, the moment when all four voices come together at the end always gives me chills, but alas. Those are really my only criticisms. I would love to have had the final lines be as they were on stage,
To seek revenge may lead to Hell,
But everyone does it, and seldom as well
As Sweeney
As Sweeney Todd
The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street!
I came out of this moving thinking, “Wow, they got that right!” and that it was far and away the best of the recent musical movie adaptations.
I enjoyed the movie. I was pleasantly surprised by Johnny Depp’s singing (I thought it had a sort of David Bowie quality to it). I was disappointed at the missing choral music. My previous exposure to Sweeney Todd was seeing a good local stage production earlier this year, and it was the “Sweeney Todd theme song,” or whatever it’s called, that most stuck with me musically.
I disliked the movie personally. My wife actually enjoyed it. It was far to graphic and disturbing for me to enjoy…though there were definitely some funny parts:
Like when they are singing about all the different types of people they plan to prepare as a tasty treat, and the different properties that will make them tasty…or when they are on the beach singing about the possible future.
We (My wife and I) saw it this afternoon. She’s in love.
I thought it was really damn good, and not like the Tim Burton film I was expecting. I now know what it is about Burton films that bugs me, sadly, as I usta be an Oingo Boingo fan, back in the day.
It’s probably Mr. Burton’s best-ever film meant for a big audience… You know, when he dies,many years from now I hope, everyone’s gonna say “This was his peak- see this one and you will get the rest of his work…”
The folks who run Hot Topic must be going nuts to get the rights to those trademarked ST purses we’re gonna see all the goth girls waving around in a few weeks.
Best film he’s ever made, and it’s possible it will sweep the tech awards in the next few months. Fucking beautiful.
I agree. It’s a masterpiece. Sadly, the stage show is an even greater masterpiece, and I wish Burton hadn’t jettisoned the subtext. Still, I’ll see it many times.
And it would have been so easy to do a tie-in with Swansons or Birdeyes: “Priest Pastrami” and “Poet Pepperoni”. The DVD release will make for some great movie/dinner party potential.
I rather liked it. The acting all around was fantastic (and I loved the cast), the singing was good, and it was a great mix of humor and horror. That being said, it fell just as little short of my expectations. The backstory was a little too cliched (guy takes revenge on other guy who hurt him). Overall though, it was great. The one thing that wigged me out and kept me up all night though, was at the very end when he realized what he’s done and is holding his dead wife, and the kid sneaks up behind him with the shaver thing. Sweeney Todd actually bares his neck slightly so the kid can have a clean swipe. :eek:
I came in with little knowledge of the musical, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I especially loved “A Little Priest” and “By the Sea.” Johnny Depp’s facial expression throughout the song was awesome, and I’m really a sucker for the “dark cloud in an otherwise disturbingly happy scene” visual. I did, however, look at some of the YouTube videos of Angela Lansbury’s performances with Len Cariou and George Hearn; the screenplay is quite different in intentions and results than the stage play, but that’s to be expected. Adapting a musical for the screen has to create the world entirely, and there’s only so much you can do onstage. I did, however, laugh at
Sacha Baron Cohen’s pants; the whole point of putting his balls in a prominently displayed part of his pants cracked me up. The foppish hair and the high note were impressive, though.
I must admit that this movie got me thinking of steampunk costuming for next halloween; Acid Lamp could definitely be an effectively scary Sweeney Todd, but he’s fully bearded, so that may be a bit different.
I saw Angela Lansbury and George Hearn in Sweeney in Boston in the '80s. They were fabulous.
This movie is, too. It really is a great adaptation. The cast overall is younger than the original Broadway cast was. (Lansbury was in her mid-fifties when I saw her.) And in just a couple of spots I wished for a little more strength in Depp’s voice.
But when I think of all the ways this could have been royally screwed up in the wrong hands. . .
I don’t think that very many Sweeney Todd fans will be disappointed with the film. And it will bring about more public awareness one of the great Broadway musicals.