5 Star

 Barbering is a Cutthroat Business.

Tim Burton (Big Eyes, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride) gives us his musical version of the stage play of the same name from a screenplay by John Logan (Any Given Sunday), based on the stage musical of the same name by Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story) and Hugh Wheeler (The Little Prince and the Aviator). He gives many a song, as well as an unhealthy amount of gushing arterial spray. This is a dark tale of revenge for many a wrong doing, but there is nothing creepier than Timothy Spall (Dream Demon, Mr Turner, Wicked Little Letters) playing a creepy man.

 

Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp, Black Mass, Transcendence) and Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2) arrive at a dark and smokey London dock. They have had a long journey from Australia, where Barker has spent the last fifteen years in exile, sentenced on trumped-up charges, by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Butler) who had spied Barker’s wife Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly, Goddess) and lusted after her, even though she had a newborn baby Johanna.

Now Barker is back, and Johanna (Jayne Wisener, Jane Eyre, Unsinkable) is a beautiful young woman, the ward of Turpin. He heads for Fleet Street, the location of his old barber shop, located above Mrs. Lovett’s (Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club, Les Misérables) pie shop (Don’t get ahead of yourselves). She recognises her old neighbour. But he tells her Benjamin Barker is dead and that Sweeney Todd is her new neighbour. She has a gift for the former barber, his box of cutthroat razors.

At last, my arm is complete again.

Meanwhile, Anthony wanders the streets of London until he spots a young woman singing at an upstairs window and he falls in love. He asks a beggar whose house that is, it’s Judge Turpin’s and the girl is of course Johanna.

Sweeney Todd restarts his business, but notices he has competition in the guise of Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) a barber and a snake oil salesman who abuses his young ward Toby Ragg (Ed Sanders, Hugo, Kill or be Killed), Todd challenges Pirelli to a shaving competition, with Judge Turpin’s henchman Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall) presiding, who declares Todd the winner, and sings his praise to anyone who would listen even to his master.

There is a fly in Todd’s ointment, Pirelli, he used to be the sweep in Barkers shop back in the day, and now he wants half of Todd’s takings to keep him quiet, but dead men don’t talk and when he explains the circumstances of Pirelli’s death to Lovett she understands, but how do they get rid of the body? (Now you are up to speed). Pies, lots of pies. Pirelli is the first and now the razors are to be unleashed, Todd will have his revenge. Anthony will have the love of his life, Lovett will have Todd to herself, and all will be hunky-dory. Na, this is a Musical-Noir.

Nearly two hours of musical mastery, highly recommended for the over eighteen musical lovers at home.

Lies, deceit, deception, revenge, mutilation all wrapped up in a musical. Brilliant

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is available on [4K Ultra HD] [2007]

 

Extra Content:

BURTON + DEPP + CARTER = TODD: A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT THE COLLABORATION OF TIM BURTON WITH JOHNNY DEPP AND HELENA BONHAM CARTER FEATURING EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE FROM REHEARSALS, RECORDING SESSIONS AND MORE!
SWEENEY TODD PRESS CONFERENCE
SWEENEY TODD IS ALIVE: THE REAL HISTORY OF THE DEMON BARBER
MUSICAL MAYHEM: SONDHEIM’S SWEENEY TODD
SWEENEY’S LONDON
HBO FIRST LOOK: THE MAKING OF SWEENEY TODD
GRAND GUIGNOL: A THEATRICAL TRADITION
DESIGNS FOR A DEMON BARBER
A BLOODY BUSINESS
THE RAZOR’S REFRAIN
PHOTO GALLERY