A wronged man and a besotted pie-maker form an unholy alliance resulting in a murderous rampage and some belting show tunes - how can anyone resist?
A Tim Burton film promotes certain expectations, an abundance of stripes, a gothic mise-en-scene, and usually Johnny Depp. All elements are present in a film that may be the most completely Tim Burton's.
This is a strange comment when you consider the film is based on Steven Sondheim's stage musical, but it has been joyfully twisted and tweaked by Burton and writer John Logan. Blood pours, spurts and spatters everywhere, but it is deliberately stylised violence.
The blood is too thick and too red to be realistic and at times Sweeney literally whistles while he works!
It is unnerving to see Captain Jack Sparrow slitting people's throats with gay abandon, but then it is almost equally unnatural seeing Johnny Depp belting out stage numbers.
Depp retains his "Pirates" accent and looks like a cross between Edward Scissorhands and a dashing ghost. Clad in velvet, ashen faced with black eyes and bloody hands, Depp's Sweeney Todd is a haunting and haunted figure.
For me though, Helena Bonham Carter does the impossible and outshines the mesmerising Mr Depp.
Her Mrs Lovett is a practical creature who has adapted to the merciless world she lives in and thinks nothing of murder as long as it is for a "good reason" and there is "no waste".
The pair never fully lose our sympathy, in part due to their powerhouse performances, and partly because villains Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall are so wonderfully repulsive that the viewer rather thinks they have it coming!
Not the average musical. People burst into song in odd situations and sing their feelings rather than speak to each other, but this is an altogether darker experience. Like combining The Silence of the Lambs with The Sound of Music. Genius or madness? You decide.
4 1/2 Stars.
First published in the Evening Gazette
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