DVD Review: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton join forces again in a big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical thriller “Sweeney Todd.” Depp stars in the title role as a man unjustly sent to prison who vows revenge, not only for that cruel punishment, but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, Sweeney Todd becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who “shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again.” Joining Depp is Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney’s amorous accomplice, who creates diabolical meat pies. The cast also includes Alan Rickman, who portrays the evil Judge Turpin, who sends Sweeney to prison and Timothy Spall as the Judge’s wicked associate Beadle Bamford and Sacha Baron Cohen is a rival barber, the flamboyant Signor Adolfo Pirelli.

Review:
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton collaborate once again for the recreation of Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical, Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street. Sure enough, you can always rely on Burton for spectacular cinematography and gloomy imagery as the score winds around an eerie tale in London, a heartless town that’s ‘filled with people who are filled with shit.’

Johnny Depp flawlessly invades the character of Sweeney Todd, a naive barber who unjustly lost his beautiful wife and daughter to a ‘biased vulture of the law,’ and has returned for revenge.

Determined to reopen his barber shop above Nellie Lovett’s (Helena Bonham Carter) pie shop on Fleet Street, Sweeney begins preying his victims one by one, renovating them into savory meat pastries.

Sweeney Todd is a tasteful delight as the film liberates mesmeric words and haunting hums that sound quite similar to nighttime lullabies. Depp beautifully maintains the harmonious lyrics surging from his lips while being possessed by a razor-crazed rampage, gashing the throats of every client who takes a seat. Though you may be left with a satisfied appetite, this wickedly-humorous film will certainly leave a mouth-watering relish.

Review by Kimberly Haddad

Grade: A
Official site: http://www.sweeneytoddmovie.com/
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