Sweeney Todd

It never made it to the only large theater in Pocatello during the initial release, but is finally showing in the second tier theaters. And I got to see it tonight! Very, very well done. It's not quite how I would have done it, but everything works. If you've seen any of Tim Burton's other films, especially things like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice, you'll have some idea what kind of atmosphere to expect.

Johnny Depp managed to surprise me. At the very beginning, I had my doubts. There just wasn't enough expression in his first lines. Seeing the rest of it, that must have been deliberate, perhaps as if he were feeling a bit numb to see London again. The rest of his performance is beautiful. Gruesome, but beautiful.

Helena Bonham Carter is quite good as well. I would either have cast someone with a scratchier voice for the role, or tried to train her to sing it that way. Her voice was just a bit too pretty for the role of Mrs. Lovett, imo. But maybe that's just me. Her speaking lines were wonderfully delivered, and she had just the right flair, so I can't complain about anything else.

They did leave out quite a bit that was in the musical. No tooth-pulling contest with Pirelli; no Judge Turpin lashing himself; no chorus; no "resurrection" at the end. The chorus I particularly missed. The melody ran throughout much of the movie, but no one ever sang the lyrics. I thought maybe they'd show up in the credits, at least, but they hadn't by the time Fibonacci and I headed out. As for the other elements that were omitted, I can understand that based on the way the movie ended; those elements would have been distractions. I will say that what happened at the very end of the movie was in the musical, but it was not the very end of the musical. There was a bit more closure on other plot elements.

At any rate, I would highly highly highly recommend this. Er, fair warning, it is a bit graphic: blood spurting and whatnot. I'm the type of person to note such things and begin wondering how they managed the effect, so it generally doesn't bother me. So perhaps I should amend that, and recommend it to anyone with a grand sense of the macabre. PS: if you liked the song, you'll love the way they did "A Little Priest" in the movie. Beautiful. Just beautiful.