Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a review
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It seems strange to do a parody of a musical that I have yet to watch. But then again, there's a lot of strange things going on lately, such as my realization that I'm suppose to guard the lunch table like a well trained west highland terrier. So I guess parodying Sweeney Todd isn't exactly something totally out of the ordinary but hell, I guess I should at least watch it to get a feeling of how to act on stage when the curtain comes down (or is it up?).
First of all, I would like to make it clear that Sweeney Todd is probably one of the better movies I’ve reviewed. I mean seriously, Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Helena Bonham Carter as the leading roles? Homicidal barber with a plot for vengeance? Blood spurting on across screen that would've made Freddie Kreuger queasy? What's not to love about it?
Okay fine, it's a musical, but the sheer balls-to-the-wall goriness makes up for it. There's just this strange sense of satisfaction in seeing Depp cutting somebody's throat while singing a tender tune about his daughter. The ability for the characters to slip in and out of songs throughout the entire movie also deserves praise since these are, after all, movie actors instead of musical actors.
But that doesn’t mean this movie was without its weak points. And believe me, there were weak points.
The movie can be at best described as stealing scenes from the play, and at worst be described as ripping the entire play but adding in special effects for the silver screen. If you replaced all the actors from the stage productions with the characters from the film and still can find the difference between the two formats, then you must be a freak who finishes those “can you tell apart the difference in the pictures” in three seconds or just a freak without any special conditions attached.
I mean, I’m all for keeping true to the text, but not when critics start giving the film high praises for its “outstanding and original score” for a score that wasn’t original at all. Then there’s the fact that all of the characters looked like banshees with their chalk white faces and black hair. And no viewer of the movie would actually understand why this was so until they hear the song Ballad of Sweeney Todd. The movie ended about two scenes too early and we never get to see Toby grinding up the meat absentmindedly as the police burst in to the oven, but now I’m just being bitter about the complete trashing of the end. I guess I should get used to the fact that movies are going to invariably cut out scenes to make it fit the time limit, but the final scene wouldn’t have taken more than two minutes, throwing that theory out of the water.
But even with all the complaints that I have, I really can’t fault the movie. It’s brilliant, witty, and charming. It brings new life to the long dead movie industry that’s filled with terrible remakes and equally, if not more, terrible parodies. And as far as I see it, this will be the shining example that more movies will attempt to imitate, at least until Scary Movie 5 tries to parody this movie and snuff out my last remaining hope in the human race. And when that day finally comes, then I would heartily welcome any future movie makers to stop by my barbershop.
Originally Posted by Exarch
