Reviews of movies, music, books and more by David Goody.

Monday, June 09, 2008

DVD: Sweeney Todd

If you closed your eyes for 90 minutes and tried to visualise what a Tim Burton film incarnation of the tale of the demon barber of Fleet Street would be like, you probably wouldn't need to spend your hard earned cash going to see it. You put Johnny Depp with a Pepe Le Pew style haircut in the lead and Helena Bonham Carter with her "had it this way so long it's no longer scary"backwards through a hedge hair alongside him. The city of London would be a victorian Gotham City and the blood would fly akin to Sleepy Hollow.

All of this makes Sweeney Tood sound like the work of a tired director who has run out of ideas. But Burton's visual style is so strong the familiar nature of the film feels like having you favourite dish at a local restaurant - you know what you want and you know it won't be bad.

The tale is fairly simple, agreived barber returns to London after being robbed of his wife and afflicted with Bowie from the 70's accent. Menacing stares, slashed throats and tasty "meat" pies ensue. Sondheim's music contributes strong but verbose songs, and here Burton seems to struggle with the lack of the kind of catchy choruses that he dished up in Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. As such a strong start starts to run out of pace towards the end, with a tragic denoument that appears postively rushed.

The Moulin Rouge style fast forward zooms across the London skyline are one of a number of cases where the CGI is too obvious and flashy. However despite these faults Sweeney Tood is unlikely to dissapoint. The chef may have served up better before, but you will still be returning to order more of the same.

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