Sweeney Todd ****

Posted on February 6th, 2008 by bryan.
Categories: General.

According to today’s Guardian, a fair proportion of cinema audiences have been walking out of Sweeney Todd because they’re ’stung at paying to see a collection of tortuously constructed Stephen Sondheim tunes when they were expecting a gory Gothic thriller’. Apparently, some have complained about the trailer’s failure to mention the whole musical thing to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Hopefully the ASA will not spend too much time, effort or money considering these complaints. Sweeney Todd IS a musical - if audiences didn’t realise that in advance, then that is their fault (and, bluntly, they’re stupid). The movie received lots of publicity in advance, not least because it was Johnny Depp’s first singing role (that should have been a clue). And what’s so wrong with it being a musical? It didn’t make the film any less gory; nor was the storyline hard to follow. The actors (none of them known as singers) were all natural, in particular Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.

Also, walking out of the cinema because a movie turned out to be a musical? What ludites! Couldn’t they give it a try? Clearly they had more money than sense!

The movie was a masterpiece of the movie musical genre. But it shouldn’t be thought of as just that. This was Tim Burton at his best, a dark, graphic thriller that has secured three Academy Award nominations (including for Depp as ‘best actor’). If you like gore, musicals or Depp (which together should keep most people happy), you will come away from Sweeney Todd with happy nightmares.

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