Okay, I know I’ve been slacking. But I’m going to blame it on the stomach flu I had and then the things I had to catch up on after that. So here we are, back on track, and I’ve got at least four reviews lined up for you over the next week or so. Enjoy!
I’ve gotta say, this is a movie that I looked forward to for a very long time. I love Johnny Depp, I love musicals, I love Victorian London, and I love the sinisterness of the movie. That being said, this is a movie I would watch again, but not for awhile. It was good, don’t get me wrong, and I was impressed and happily surprised by the musical numbers, but I’m not one for the slashing of the throats. It really wasn’t that gory or disgusting, I’m just the type of person that always averts my eyes when I know something bad is going to happen.
On to the synopsis: Benjamin Barker is a happily married barber with a brand new baby girl when Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman, recognizable to most as Snape from the Harry Potter movies) sentences him to forced labor in the Americas for a crime he didn’t commit so Turpin can have Barker’s wife all to himself. The story begins when Barker arrives back in London under the alias of Sweeney Todd. Todd walks through the streets of London and finds himself at his old residence, which is located just above Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pies. With the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) and a boy he met on his trip back to London (or during his stay in the Americas, it’s not exactly clear which) Todd learns that his wife poisoned herself with arsenic and his daughter, Johanna, is now a captive in the judge’s mansion. Todd vows revenge on the judge and all of London, which he can only think of as a “hole in the world like a great black pit.” He and Mrs. Lovett go into business (you’ll have to watch the movie to find out exactly how) and Todd goes on a murderous rampage, trying to rid London of the “vermin of the world [that] inhabit it.”
To know if Sweeney Todd ever does get revenge on the judge, or if he’s ever reunited with his daughter, well, you’ll just have to watch the movie to find out. It’s definitely worth it.
4 out of 5 stars for being the kind of movie you don’t see every day. This showcases Depp’s and Carter’s raw talents as actors, and you feel for their characters. The music is catchy and makes you want to sing along, and the story sucks you in. I just don’t like blood spurting.
