Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

**** Stars

Sweeney Todd is here...

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton collaborate for their sixth motion picture together. The film had to overcome some bad buzz and whether or not Depp's appearance looked a bit too familiar (looks like Edward Scissorhands and sounds like Jack Sparrow). Well Sweeney Todd proves that buzz can mean nothing and that it does resemble Depp's prior roles. But who wouldn't want to see the two performances combined together in a bloody musical adapted from a famous Broadway show? I was totally pulled in.

Depp plays Todd, which is an alias to his prior self Benjamin Barker. Barker was falsely convicted of raping his wife Lucy, by the Judge Turpin (the always impressive Alan Rickman) and deported him to Australia (Turpin was in love with his wife who eventually poisoned herself.) After the death of Lucy, Turpin takes custody of his infant daughter Johanna. This sets up Barker's transition to Sweeney Todd, as he illegally returns to Victorian England years later (with the help of a young man named Anthony) to have his revenge. With the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) the worst meatpie cook in London, Todd sets up a barber chair to slit the throats of all his customers. It's the perfect date movie.

Alright, I'm Kidding. But don't let that stop you. This is one bloody excellent thriller with dazzling visuals and wonderful songs. The Tony-award winning production went onto Broadway in 1979 with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and while Depp may not have a Broadway voice, his tone and passion create a style of singing that is perfect for a film. This is a dark production and it takes someone with enough confidence like Depp (who was actually cast as Todd before even singing one note from the script) to create a character we truly care for while he is slaughtering people by the throat left and right. For myself, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street joins a rare category this year with other films including Once and Across the Universe: musicals that are one of the best films of the year.