moonspinner55 Reflections in a razor. After being falsely imprisoned for 15 years, Benjamin Barker, London's most efficient barber, returns to his Fleet St. haunts under an alias to exact revenge on the villainous judge who allegedly drove Barker's wife to suicide and now has designs on their grown daughter. Long-overdue film-adaptation of the 1979 Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, itself derived from George Dibdin-Pitt's play, first filmed in 1928 and again with Tod Slaughter starring in 1936. This time, the material is served up as macabre, black comedy, with director Tim Burton giving the picture an icy-gray pallor--and not just on the actors' faces, but an overall chilly deadness which seems ingrained in the film itself. Glowering, mumbling Johnny Depp attempts a perpetual low-key in the lead--in fact, most of the performances are muted in general--but this works against the film's aim (one presumes) to be a darkly comic grotesquerie. Black-red blood is splashed and dashed about the screen quite stylishly, but the heart of the piece is never found. The hand-picked cast perform their songs more than adequately, yet they are unable to bring these characters to life. Production design and technical aspects first-rate, but exactly what audience was Burton hoping to capture? *1/2 from ****

Thomas Drufke Do serial kills start singing after they murder their victims? Most likely not, but Sweeney Todd tackles that very premise as Tim Burton directs his bloodiest film to date.When musicals are done right, I'll be one of the first in line to see them. Much like Westerns, they are rare to come by these days so I'm always down to go back and check out one that I hadn't previously seen. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was one of those musicals, but sadly I don't think it lived up to the hype for me.To have a cohesive character arc, you need obstacles or just something significant a character goes through so that the ending feels justified and earned. In my opinion, there is no real character arc for Todd. Sure, he begins as a normal man starting a life with his wife and daughter, but this is done in a brief flashback. I never once felt attached to this character or really cared at all. The wrongs that were done to him and his family are bad, but again, it wasn't like we see a lot of this on screen, we are told about it. For as much bad as we see Todd do, it just would have been nice to have some material balance it out the other way.As for the musical aspects go, it's pretty paint by numbers. Perhaps, if I were into the story a little bit more and cared about what the characters were doing, I would have gotten into the songs they were singing. I really tried, but I just couldn't. It's also worth noting that because this film does have a fair amount of dialogue as well, the transitions to song weren't as smooth as they could have been. I love me some Alan Rickman, but when he breaks out into song at the barbershop, it feels pretty dang awkward.I'm in the minority here though, this musical is beloved by many people, and at first glance it seems like Burton did a nice job of adapting the musical to screen. So perhaps it's just me. I just feel that in order to make a good film about someone who says "we'll not discriminate who we kill", I have to believe that what he or she is doing is warranted, and I didn't. Of course, these aren't just regular murders. These are bloody and premeditated murders in which the victims get baked into pies and fed to the town. Brutal. Just brutal.+Burton was the right man for the job-Never felt connected to the story or characters-Pretty gratuitous if you ask me-Song transitions are rough4.5/10

POGO (PogoNeo) The story is so banal and predictable, that for over half of the characters you know how what was their past, the moment the show up on screen and says just a few lines. You also often instantly know how they are gonna end up and that you are watching the particular scene in which they will die. This movie has illogical events and simply stupid behavior of individuals. As for the music, it is as if it was written by some Hollywood composer at least 30 years ago. And Johnny Deep instead of acting, under the Tim Burton's weak direction delivers this display of severe case of face paralysis. And yet, some real movie Experts from US Of A wanted to give him an Oscar, apparently for that screaming / howling of his; but fortunately, they settled him only with an totally unearned Golden GlobeIf it was not for the good showcase of London of the nineteenth century, this almost absolutely boring musical would have earned the 1/10 rating

jwiley-86292 Unfortunately, I was unable to accept the two leads' performances as befitting the characters. They underact to "Dull Surprise" levels, especially Depp. Don't get me started on that last scene! Furthermore, he doesn't look old enough to be the father of a sixteen-year-old, and their hair and make-up look too Hot Topic for my taste. I call this "But not too historical" syndrome. Do audiences really not want to see how people dressed and did their hair in times past, or are wardrobe people lazy?Most unforgivable is the fact that they cut sections of the musical that are a big part of why I love it, namely, Kiss Me, the Judge's song sequence and the beggar woman's pickup lines. Why does Tim Burton reduce Johanna's character but not Mrs. Lovett's? She's clearly misguided in all things, so I care more about the other women. I have a feeling the cuts were done to make the film under two hours, which is a terrible idea. Films that give themselves time are usually better.HOWEVER! Depp and Bonham-Carter are the only egregious things about the movie! Everyone else is dressed roughly appropriately for the period, and fits my personal vision of their character well. Rickman as Judge Turpin, for example, is one of the greatest casting moves of all time to the point where I forgive his inability to sing. Laura Michelle Kelly is also great but underutilized. My only problem with the supporting cast is the focus on Timothy Spall's face in the scene where he and Turpin have just left the courthouse. Finally, the film looks beautiful; I couldn't tell the backgrounds were mostly CG. But alas, Sweeney Todd needs engaging lead performances to work as a finished product.