Tim Burton & Johnny Depp Team For 'Sweeney Todd'

[L0ngsh0t]

This movie put me to sleep at times, especially in the brutal beginning of the film that seemed to take about 45 minutes to get started. Everything kind of seemed slow and lifeless but that is almost the standard for musical movies, the energy is lost when it is on television imo, Depp was fine Helena was fine, the actors where all fine, the singing was good enough. This was even able to beat my usual loath of most things Burton (Big Fish excluded), with me giving it a passable rating, but I think this is a far far far cry from anything close to resembling a academy award winning movie.

7/10

 

[StrainedEyes]

I loved the pace, I thought it was just right.

 

[JP]

Everything kind of seemed slow and lifeless but that is almost the standard for musical movies

I disagree, and no.

 

[DACrowe]

Slow? No, it just focused on developing the characters and plot instead of being a dumb slasher movie. As for lifeless, well these characters are sick of life and have all been kicked in the gut by it, so none of them are loud and happy (though on stage Mrs. Lovett is), but that was the point and it worked.

 

[Drizzle]

Everything kind of seemed slow and lifeless but that is almost the standard for musical movies

I don't know. I can't fully disagree with you on that, because I fell asleep while watching both "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Hairspray". But I didn't think any part of "Sweeney Todd" was slow and lifeless, except for "Not While I'm Around". I'm not a fan of musicals but I thought "Sweeney Todd" was one of the best films of the year.

 

[L0ngsh0t]

Slow? No, it just focused on developing the characters and plot instead of being a dumb slasher movie. As for lifeless, well these characters are sick of life and have all been kicked in the gut by it, so none of them are loud and happy (though on stage Mrs. Lovett is), but that was the point and it worked.

Nothing happens in the first half hour of the film, we get a little back story but it goes by so quick that if you watched the trailer that told you the exact same thing about the characters i.e. Rickman took everything Todd had, and left him for dead, Todd wants revenge that was the back story and that is what we got from the trailer also. The characters of Johanna and the Sailor where massively underdeveloped for being essentially the driving force of the movie. Rickman does far to little to be considered the villainy he is being charged with in the movie, finally about an hour into it we see him doing something heinous (Trying to marry his ward, and then sending her to prison) until then he is just a strict caretaker who's ward just wants to get out of the house.

And by lifeless I mean there is no energy to the movie, but all musical movies suffer from that, just like seeing a band live and it being awesome, but their album is not nearly as good, seeing a musical live is a whole different animal. There is the energy being oozed out at a alarming rate on stage, and it is something a very small small amount of move musicals have been able to capture, grease was one, I think Hairspray was another which I found to be leagues better than this musical movie. The songs where great, but I have only seen the recorded version of this stage musical and that I was able to get much more energy than this slow moving flick.

There is always a couple movies I find to be behemothly overrated every year, last year it was United 93 and Little Miss Sunshine, and this year looks to be no different with Sweeny Todd, and then Bourne Ultimatum, which I like both movies enough like ST I'd give a 7/10, and Bourne an 8/10 but both are on average getting like 9+'s which I think is just much too high.

 

[Agentsands77]

Nothing happens in the first half hour of the film, we get a little back story but it goes by so quick that if you watched the trailer that told you the exact same thing about the characters i.e. Rickman took everything Todd had, and left him for dead, Todd wants revenge that was the back story and that is what we got from the trailer also.

You should never view a film in light of its trailer. It would probably have played better had you not seen the trailer (yet another reason trailers often ruin films). If you were experiencing it just as it was, there's a sense of discovery as more layers of Todd's background are uncovered, rather than this sense of "Hey, I knew this already from the trailer."

The first half hour of SWEENEY TODD sets up the characters, their personalities, their motivations, the thematic core of the story all very skillfully. And I think the backstory is much more powerfully told than it is in the trailer... without that extrapolation and discovery, we're not brought into Sweeney's character like we should be.

The characters of Johanna and the Sailor where massively underdeveloped for being essentially the driving force of the movie.

How are they the driving force of the story? They're nothing but supporting characters in a much larger drama of villainy and revenge.

Rickman does far to little to be considered the villainy he is being charged with in the movie, finally about an hour into it we see him doing something heinous (Trying to marry his ward, and then sending her to prison) until then he is just a strict caretaker who's ward just wants to get out of the house.

Umm... lessee, he falsely condemned Todd to exile in work camps, raped his wife in front of a crowd of onlookers, and then stole his child, whom he now lusts over. He wrongfully condemns a young child to death. That all spells "heinous" to me.

There is the energy being oozed out at a alarming rate on stage, and it is something a very small small amount of move musicals have been able to capture, grease was one, I think Hairspray was another which I found to be leagues better than this musical movie. The songs where great, but I have only seen the recorded version of this stage musical and that I was able to get much more energy than this slow moving flick.

GREASE and HAIRSPRAY are silly dance-a-lot musicals that are all about flash. They're happy stories. They're not bleak tragedies where the characters are worn out. As DACrowe points out:

As for lifeless, well these characters are sick of life and have all been kicked in the gut by it, so none of them are loud and happy (though on stage Mrs. Lovett is), but that was the point and it worked.

 

[The Guard]

I never found SWEENEY TODD boring. Sure, not much action is going on at first, but it's more of a character piece than most of Burton's past works were. It was pretty much consistently interesting and funny from the get-go. It's building to something, and without that build, the end result just wouldn't pop like it does in the movie.

There is always going to be a kind of energy to a live stage performance that doesn't exist in a media viewing of one. Ask anyone who's been both on stage and in front of a camera. There's an immediacy and an outright back and forth energy exchange between the actor and the audience to live theatre that a film will pretty much never have.

Also, bringing energy to a performance doesn't neccessarily involve being bombastic and outgoing or over the top. Some roles require a more reserved performance, that nevertheless requires a lot of energy and can often be more taxing on an actor. Essentially, there are many different kinds of presence and energy.

 

[Untilteld]

I heard it didn't do so well at the BO?

 

[JP]

It's actually doing rather for an R rated musical released in a little over a thousand theaters.

 

[Drizzle]

I think it's made back either half or two-thirds of its budget, so not bad.

 

[Mr. Socko]

This movie put me to sleep at times, especially in the brutal beginning of the film that seemed to take about 45 minutes to get started. Everything kind of seemed slow and lifeless but that is almost the standard for musical movies, the energy is lost when it is on television imo, Depp was fine Helena was fine, the actors where all fine, the singing was good enough. This was even able to beat my usual loath of most things Burton (Big Fish excluded), with me giving it a passable rating, but I think this is a far far far cry from anything close to resembling a academy award winning movie.

7/10

I don't agree as I thought the entire film was fantastic. But you giving anything Tim Burton related a 7/10 is definitely progress

 

[DACrowe]

True, I just want to point out that Grease and Hairspray were pretty much silly, empty-headed mindless fluff pieces of entertainment. I'd say on stage there are many better musicals of their kind, but for the screen they were both adapted well and are pretty to look at and make you laugh and leave your thought other than a few memorable tunes from each and a passable (if empty) book and lyrics.

Sweeney Todd is a melodrama that borders on opera and the movie took away all chorus numbers for better or worse (and while I love the ballad, I'd say for better) and is just characters. These characters are much more complex than the archtypes and intentional cliches that populate Hairspray and are a mixture of boiling emotions and Burton has Depp and Carter play both their characters as introverted in the leads and withdrawn on some level or another, which is EXTREMELY rare for a musical (particularly for the character of Mrs. Lovett) but it works, really well. This is a movie where characters express themselves through song, but they are still in the story and not stopping for a musical number, the jump between singing and talking and back again is natural and flowing as opposed to forced. The music is more complex and tricky than pop ballads that populate the two musicals you mention and the story is dark. It is building to something. That would be like complaining it took too long for Sandy to meet Danny Zuko and find out he is a jerk in front of his friends because you know the story gets to that point but it has to build to it and cannot begin with that in the first five minutes. The same goes for Sweeney building up who these characters are, where they come from and why they live in such a ****hole of a city and time and place and are so hung up on vengence, love or innocence like they are. Johanna is not a central character so much as a figure of idolizing by the three male characters and Burton zeros in on this (even if he mistakingly took out the Judge's Johanna) and at the end we meet the real her and again it increases the movie's dark and complex tone. It does not end on a high feel good beat that leaves the audience with an energy of momentary soaring like Hairspray or Grease but as strong jolt to the nuts and even knowing the story left me stunned after it ended and the whole audience in shock and the darkness and sadness that it ends on. It reaches that point far better than Hairspray did it's and that is why weeks later I still think of Sweeney Todd in awe while Hairspray entertained me but was out of my mind by the end of that evening.

 

[L0ngsh0t]

I don't agree as I thought the entire film was fantastic. But you giving anything Tim Burton related a 7/10 is definitely progress

Well yeah, I defiantly say take my review with a grain of salt considering I think Edward Scissorhands like a 5, and Batman a 6, Sleepy Hollow a 4. I wish he was more like Big Fish, or I wish he changed it up with every flick, cause while Big Fish is a departure it still emphasizes his flair for aesthetics that he has a talent for, albeit he tends to repeat things alot in movies. But my two favorites are Big Fish and Ed Wood cause they are the biggest departures from his normal works and they are just great movies

 

[DACrowe]

Bump.

I shall not let this movie go quietly into the night!

 

[Brick]

Just heard the film version of Johanna for the 1st time and it's very bland if you ask me.

 

[Agentsands77]

Just heard the film version of Johanna for the 1st time and it's very bland if you ask me.

Which "Johanna"? Anthony's? Or the trio?

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

They were showing the old TV movie...The Tale of Sweeny Todd...with Ben Kingsley as Sweeny. It wasn't a musical though. Pretty interesting that the two different stories are soo different. Anybody see this other movie?

 

[Brick]

Which "Johanna"? Anthony's? Or the trio?

Jamie Campbell Bower, Johnny Depp & Laura Michelle Kelly version of Johanna is just so bland and it's sad becasue i'm a big fan of the song and the way they sing it just contains no passion what so ever

 

[Majik1387]

I sort of understand what you mean. It seemed more like a song to go with the montage of the movie rather than actually having emotion in it. I still liked it though.

 

[JP]

I enjoyed it.. it's actually my favorite song in the movie sans Epiphany.

And Johanna's small part was cut from that song in the film. Only Sweeney and Anthony sing it.

 

[Brick]

I sort of understand what you mean. It seemed more like a song to go with the montage of the movie rather than actually having emotion in it. I still liked it though.

I enjoyed it.. it's actually my favorite song in the movie sans Epiphany.

And Johanna's small art was cut from that song in the film. Only Sweeney and Anthony sing it.

Well i have not seen the film yet so my mind will not be made up till then

 

[Mandi-chan]

I saw it the other night and loved it!
Although, my enjoyment of the film was killed slightly due to a couple of people rudely laughing at completely inappropriate parts.

I've been listening to the soundtrack somewhat obsessively since then (I have the short soundtrack, and have now located and purchased the longer one)...I can't wait to see it again!

 

[Untilteld]

Johanna's part in the song was lame and unnecessary, didn't fit. I personally love the trio version of Johanna.

 

[Mr. Socko]

They were showing the old TV movie...The Tale of Sweeny Todd...with Ben Kingsley as Sweeny. It wasn't a musical though. Pretty interesting that the two different stories are soo different. Anybody see this other movie?

I saw it as well. Sweeney must be a musical firstly, and Sweeney himself looked like Will Turner with black hair. That didn't look like Kingsley at all.