(Contains spoilers)
I saw the new movie version of the musical Sweeney Todd last night. Overall, I was pleasantly (though perhaps that word seems odd, given the grim subject matter!) surprised at how well it turned out. The actors sang well and looked the part(s), the imagery was great (Tim Burton was born to film this!), there were still elements of the grim humor that's such an important part of the show (though at times, my father and I were the only ones laughing)
The acting was superb. Although all the actors looked younger than I'm used to seeing in those roles (Johnny Depp may be in his 40s, but he still looks like a college student to me), they inhabited their characters fully.
Helena Bonham Carter was fabulously creepy too -- looked like a broken China doll. The "Down By The Sea" scene was funny and sad at the same time.
There were other nice touches, like the scene when Anthony first sees Joanna and sings to her. Judge Turpin notices this, invites the boy in, and then proceeds to have Beadle Banford beat the **** out of him to discourage him from further wooing. Anthony picks himself off the ground in the alley, wipes the blood off his face, and resumes singing, but with a gleam in his eye. He's in love, yes, but boy is he pissed off. It's a mirror of Sweeney Todd's victimization, rage, and determination to get even, and it works very well in the movie.
Unfortunately, they did have to leave out some of the original show in order to make this a reasonably short film (two hours as opposed to three.) Some of the omissions were understandable and didn't make that much of a difference, but in other cases, well... for example, I missed the beggar woman's obscene rhymes ("Hey, hoy, sailor boy, want it snugly harbored? Open me gates but dock it straight, I see it lists to starboard!"), Michael missed "Kiss Me", the duet between Anthony and Joanna, and we both regretted the lack of "More Pies Please/God That's Good." (It was in there in a truncated form.)
Many people have given this movie negative reviews, and I think the problem comes in towards the end. In the stage musical, there is the same piling up of corpses, and the final tragedy, when Sweeney realizes what he's done and Toby kills him for killing Mrs. Lovett. However, as my mother put it, the chorus that introduces and ends the musical on stage acts as a way to distance yourself from the violence. It's a reminder that we're watching the modern equivalent of a Greek tragedy, and a bit of a relief, one which is totally denied here. The absolute last scene is visually and emotionally grim and devastating, and unrelievedly over the top. There's something about having all the actors get back up and take their bows, even when they're covered in blood...
Still, overall I thought it was a good movie and I'll probably get the DVD (I may just skip the last few minutes!)
