Will the sound of one more Christmas carol drive you to the brink of screaming madness?
Treacly holiday sentimentality plucking at your last nerve?
Contemplating drowning yourself in a vat of egg nog?

Never fear, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is here!

While last year’s seasonal movie musical, Dreamgirls had moviegoers dancing and toe-tapping in their seats, this year’s offering is bound to have an altogether different effect. True to form, Tim Burton has delivered a deliciously dark interpretation of the classic Sondheim opera. The setting is Victorian-era London, and Burton has represented the period with absolute visual mastery. Each scene oozes with equal parts grimy refinement and moody elegance. Johnny Depp is at his gothic and creepy best in the role of Benjamin Barker / Sweeney Todd, a man plagued by his own demons and hell-bent on enacting his vengeance against those who stole his life and his family away from him. Ever at his side in the role of Mrs. Lovett, is Helena Bonham Carter. Her face bears all the disturbing innocence of a demented baby doll, and it’s no wonder, for we quickly discover that underneath her seemingly good intentions, Mrs. Lovett harbors an agenda that’s just as twisted and depraved as Todd’s. Amidst all of the darkness of the film, Sacha Baron Cohen adds a splash of color and humor as Signor Pirelli, the over-the-top Italian barber who dares to challenge Sweeney Todd to a duel. Though his time on the screen is relatively brief, Cohen delivers, proving that he is poised to follow in the footsteps of Jim Carrey and may very well become one of the great comic character actors of our time.

But wait, I haven’t even mentioned the music! Oh, the music! At first I was a bit uncertain how I’d feel about hearing Johnny sing his way through a feature-length film; but not to worry, everything is as it should be. Depp and his co-stars effortlessly express a range of emotions through the film’s musical numbers and none of them sound off doing so. The songs are wickedly witty and whimsical and instead of distracting you from the film’s flow, they advance the plot and give a more intimate glance into each character’s psyche. Even as the blood starts to flow and the bodies start piling up, you’ll find yourself toe-tapping and smiling despite the macabre subject matter.

Filled to the brim with great acting, superb music, and lots of gore, this Dickens-meets-Craven film will certainly have you screaming…for more. It’s a bloody good time indeed.

cheers!
k

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Buy the Sweeney Todd soundtrack