OLD NEW REVIEW! SWEENEY TODD (2007, dir. Tim Burton)

Wrote this like 2 months ago. Sorry, guys. Really loved this movie. Loved it.

I mean, watching Johnny Depp - JOHNNY DEPP - croon Sondheim's "Pretty Women" with the unadulterated bravata of the aspiring rock star he was circa 20 years ago... while seductively wielding a razor at the naked throat of the villianous (and can I just say bizarrely erotic) Alan Rickman...

AAAAAAAAAHHHH! That's as thrilling as a major studio release gets for me. Sure there will be better "made" movies released during this flurry of "LOOK AT ME!" films bidding for awards this season. But I doubt I will have as much fun watching them as I had watching Sweeney Todd. Depp fans, whether they're enamored with the musical genre or not, will find themselves salivating. He's turned in some incredible performances over the years but watching his interpretation of a tuneful serial killer, gave me that tingly sensation I got when he appeared perched on the mast of a sinking ship in Pirates. His Todd also prompted me to ask myself, "When was the last time Depp played a virile character?" I don't really know if he ever has. And, of course, when he does... that man is going to sing.

Ok. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we were all fucking worried about this movie. Trailer popped up and everyone was like "THREW UP IN MY MOUTH A LITTLE! If Burton fucks this up, I am swearing him off forever." I have a confession to make: closet Tim Burton fan over here. Half of you are like "Whatever. Me too." But the other half of you (the real cinephiles)... well, let's just say I can hear your aggressive sigh from here. Here's my thing with Burton. I am the first person to admit that the guy is not a born filmmaker. But I really do love him. Mostly because he fell ass backwards into filmmaking and had a pretty good run there from Pee Wee's Big Adventure to Ed Wood and I think the box office success of Sleepy Hollow surprised even him. But when I skulked out of Planet of the Apes I was really hurt. I took his laziness really personally. I mean, I showed up, Tim. God!

Burton's fundamental problem is mood. It's also his greatest strength to a certain extent. No one does maniacal whimsy like Tim Burton. And... it seems.. All Tim Burton can really muster is maniacal whimsy. What's so startlingly in Sweeney Todd is how Burton adapts to the material. He doesn't throw himself unnecessarily on it (Big Fish) or forget that he's directing something and just babysit the production (Planet of the Apes). He finally found a project that justifies even strengthens his moodiness and he really brought his A-game. For the first time in 13 years, I was impressed with Burton's slight of hand.

And what was also great was the narrative was firmly rooted in Sondheim's piece. So there wasn't any of that obnoxious Burton-My-Dad-Didn't-Love-Me-But-Not-In-The-Cool-Speilberg-Way-But-More-Like-That-Shyamalan-None-Of-The-Other-Kids-Had-Any-Interest-In-Talking-To-Me-I'll-Show-Them-With-My-Weird-Ass-Movie... Way.

To wrap up... I love Sondheim. I think Sasha Baron Cohen can put his penis away for a couple of years. I didn't like the kid. Helena Bonham Carter has lost it and her voice is thin but I love her in Fight Club and I'm glad she's found happiness. And yes. I think Alan Rickman is strangely erotic.

Bottom Line: I feel a similar love for Amadeus. When it comes down to it, Amadeus is a poor man's Barry Lyndon. But that film and this one are deft cinematic adaptations of epic stage pieces sanctioned by their original creators.