A blood soaked Christmas

"Sweeney Todd" : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman
3.5 stars out of 4

The holiday season takes a turn for the dark and dreaded, with this dreary and bleak musical based off a broadway play of the same name. "Sweeney Todd" is Tim Burton's picture, he uses his lifetime muse Johnny Depp, as the Demon Barber Sweeney Todd. The film takes place in a gothic and bleakly styilized London. Depp plays Benjamin Barker a barber, and family man who is falsely accused of a crime and is seperated from his wife and young daughter. Alan Rickman is the devious judge who sets him up and envy's his wife,Barker is soon imprisoned for over a decade.

Barker appears in London after his sentence as Sweeney Todd, with his slick big hair and revenge on his mind. Todd is seeking revenge for his past injustices, as he seeks to kill Judge Turpin and re-claim his family. Only his wife has poisioned herself and died and his daughter Joanna is living under the roof of Judge Turpin. Todd opens a barbershop in the upstairs of a meat-pie shop run by the lonely Mrs. Lovett played by the charming Helena Bonham Carter. Carter who is director Burton's wife, plays the role with ease was she brings her usual dark female undertone to the role as someone who wants to love Todd, but doesn't know how to express it. She invites him to setup shop in the upstaris of her establishment where Todd slits the throats of anyone he pleases, the bodies transcend to the basement, where Lovett burns the bodies and cooks them into her meat pies. Carter and Depp form an unusual chemistry and an understanding for there characters, more of a bond than a trust.

While the film doesn't have an extensive plot or outline, the set designs, costumes, music, and acting were enough to satisfy me to highly recommend this film, Todd's killings are whimsical yet sad as he mourns the loss of a lost life with his family. Todd spends the film singing of his vengaence and trying to imagine a life with his now older daughter, who knows not of Todd's tortured and lonely existence. Not only did I single out Depp's performance as great and fresh, but Helena Bonham Carter has gone unnoticed for years and Burton places her in the right film to be noticed, her voice and lyrics are humorous yet insightful, especially when she sings alongside Depp.

The film plays as many things, a musical first, a thriller and suspense blood bath, and a comedic stage play, as most of Todd's killings are laughworthy instead of shockworthy. Burton's gothic vision of old London is re-created through the characters who sing there songs in streets, alleys, and in shops. I admired the film to a special degree, the songs were simple and plot was basic, but I mostly enjoyed Burton vision and the performance of Depp and Bonham Carter. Sweeney Todd is a film to breathe in and and imagine, rather than think about. Also look for a small role from Sasha Baron Cohen, the star of "Borat", as a rival barber with a bleak future once he meets Todd.

"Sweeney Todd" is proof that Burton is getting mature in his works, his style remains the same but that isn't a fault against him. Depp continues to impress in broad and stylish roles. While Holiday season viewers may not be ready for all of the blood and gore of Todd, the film wears it's heart on it's sleeve in the personas of it's actors. A definite must see, look for Depp and possibly Bonham Carter to receieve Oscar recognition.