'Ello, G'uvner. It's not often I make two posts in a day; in fact, I've never done it at all. And if I do happen to do this strange thing, it usually means that I have something important to say. And I most certainly do in this case.
When Sweeney Todd came out in the theater, I'll admit that I wasn't too excited about it. I've never been a huge fan of musicals, what with the debacle that was High School Musical, so I failed to see it. But now reveling in the online world of Xbox Live, I happened to discover that it was available to rent for a mere 300 or so Microsoft points. That's about the equivalent of four dollars, easily rentable. And as time had passed, I had begun to hear very good things about the movie and decided to give it a whirl.
As I went in, pretty much all I knew was that there was this barber who kills people and has an oddly attractive assistant who helps him do... something. And he has a really cool chair that people slide down into a bottomless pit of death. But that's pretty much all I knew. Oh, and that Tim Burton directed it and Johnny Depp acted in it. First film that came to mind when I thought of the two (And pale-faced Johhny Depp) was Edward Scissorhands, a film I also enjoyed immensely. And how can anyone say that they've not seen or at least seen parts of A Nightmare Before Christmas?
Even as the opening credits started, I was aware that this was going to be a very bloody film. I'll make a note of this right now so I don't have to later. The R rating is there for a reason. Don't expect them to skimp on the blood in favor of harsh language or something like that. The worst thing I heard for sure was shit, and Mrs. Lovett may have said either 'bugger' or 'fucker,' I'm not exactly sure which. Again, if you have a younger sibling, don't let them see this movie. It's got more blood than a Jason flick, though it is few and far between, and the subject matter that it deals with is extremely dark.
Well, I'm four paragraphs in and I haven't even started about the plot yet. After the credits, Todd gets off a boat in jolly old early 1800s London and remembers the loss of his wife and daughter to an extremely cruel judge named Turpin (Played by Severas Snape! That was really cool to see), who banished him from the city so he could bang Todd's wife. After wandering the city for a short time, he comes back to his old shop, which is now owned by a downtrodden young women named Mrs. Lovett (Who I find very attracted to for a strange reason. Maybe it's the pale face, maybe it's the elegant dress which exposes half of her breasts) who makes meat pies. She relates to him that his wife is dead and Judge Turpin has his daughter locked away. Todd sets out to find her.
Later, he bests a ridiculous frenchman in a shaving contest who later comes to his shop to do... crap. I think that's about all I can do without giving away the major plot of the movie. Basically, I can tell you that Sweeney decides that everyone deserves to die and opens up shop while also opening peoples' throats.
As I walked away from the movie, I got about fifteen steps before I had to sit down and compose myself. The entire film was a dramatic thrill ride from start to finish. I was kept at the edge of my seat for so long, I failed to go to the bathroom once during the easily pauseable movie and relieve myself of the 24 ounce Pespi that I had consumed halfway through it.
I really don't know how to feel about Sweeney himself. Part of me thinks that he's simply a murdering psychopath, and part of me thinks he's a misguided soul whose heart was broken and simply needs revenge to complete his life. Perhaps this is why I felt such a connection to him as a character. All I'm saying is that you might not see me as an Akatsuki the next few cons I go to. A bit of hair dye, a bit of face paint, a barber's shirt..
Now I knew this was a musical, and since the captions failed to work that night, I probably missed half of the singing lines. Now this may or may not be a big issue to some people. For me, it wasn't much of a problem. More of an annoyance than anything. But I will say that about 85 percent of the dialogue is singing, and the rest is spoken. If this annoys you, remember that this is a musical, albeit the most dramatic and bloody musical outside of Shakespeare that I've ever seen and probably ever will.
The ending in particular was really profound and deserves mentioning. I've never been so deeply moved in a movie since I was 5 and Mufasa died. I really didn't want it to happen, and I'll be thinking about this for quite a while yet. Maybe even a story could come out of it; I don't know.
I really can't praise Johnny Depp and Tim Burton enough coming together to form a tremendous tag-team acting/directing duo the likes of which I've never seen. I really can't praise this movie enough. The acting was impeccable, the drama made me want to cry (Which is something I've never done in a movie, EVER), there was plenty of blood, and there were even a couple of funny parts, though you have to be in the mood for them to really laugh. I mean, come on. How many musicals have songs about cannibalism? Zero many, that's how many, man.
In summation, Sweeney Todd was a masterpiece of cinema. Well... Alright, it does have its problems relating to the mainstream audience. It's a musical that's not for kids. This will probably make peoples' heads explode, as these two things have always gone hand in hand together. So, it's not for everyone. If you're a gushing romantic, don't see this movie, because there will be more things than hearts bleeding in this movie. If you're a Ritalin pumping Rambo fan who can't go more than 10 seconds without seeing someone killed, don't see this movie. If you're both of these and need a true masterpiece to complete the triangle of insanity, then you have to see this film.
I'll give it 10 out of 10. I'll cherish this movie even as I grow old and gray. There's no doubt about that.
I'll end this review with a quote from Sweeney himself.
"There's a hole in the world like a great black pit,
and it's filled with people who are filled with shit.
And the vermin of the world inhabit it.
And it goes by the name of London."
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1 comment:
That's strange. I could have sworn I commented earlier. I just have to agree with you on this. Sweeney Todd was an exceptional film, easily the best I saw last year. Burton and Depp make yet another exceptional movie together, and you're not the only one who finds Helena Bonham Carter hot in the movie. But really an excellent film around, great acting, great direction, adequate singing, brilliant songs, and a wicked sense of dark humor. Definitely represents what musicals should be.
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