Don't get me wrong, I like musicals: Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Sound of Music (1965) , Moulin Rouge! (2001), My Fair Lady (1964) (Please don't remake this one, I like Keira Knightley, but...don't). I don't think I like Broadway musicals. I don't understand the need to sing every line. I think this is where Sweeney Todd went wrong. With the abundance of songs, none of them stand out and are memorable. Burton actually cut a lot of the songs from the Broadway version.Johnny Depp's singing was ok. He has a fairly good range. Little pitchy in parts, Dog. I think his speaking accent was a little off though, much better in Sleepy Hollow (1999). Helena Bonham Carter was great, nice voice, great acting. Sacha Baron Cohen was great but under-used. I like Alan Rickman, but again I think his talent was under-used. Timothy Spall is doomed to be type cast as the snivelling, lecherous degenerate. I wish someone would cast him as the romantic lead, that would be a good movie. He's a very good actor, he deserves the opportunity.
Visually, as with all Tim Burton's films, it is beautiful. Lights and darks composed perfectly. They would work great as a black and white movie.
I get the impression that Burton wanted to do this movie for the sole purpose of showing blood spurting from people's slit throats. He seems to relish and glory in each scene. Not exactly for the shock but more for the ecstasy of the moment. I'm saying I think he enjoyed it too much. It could have been done in a much more visually appealing way.
The focus seemed to be on grossing out the audience instead of having them share in the dark humor. I want to like this movie, it has a great story, clever dialogue, good acting, great visuals, but... it's a musical, and the songs aren't very good. They are spoken word songs, and if they are spoken, why not speak them instead of hiding them within music.
3 out of 5
www.imdb.com
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