Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: Movie review
The musical Sweeney Todd is about the man Sweeney Todd planning his revenge on the evil Judge Turpin. Sweeney had beautiful wife and daughter, along with a good life as a barber when Judge Turpin decides that he wants Todd's wife for his own and so he puts Todd a way on a false charge. Back then his name was Benjamin Barker. After that Sweeney's wife becomes miserable while Turpin tries to get her to fall for him. But after trying and failing several times he ends up having his side kick Beetle Bamford bring her to the judge's house, where he's having a party. Then he does something bad to her. Then later she poisons herself and Turpin gets Sweeney's daughter, Johanna.
Now, the audience doesn't find out about his wife until he gets out of jail. He finds out from the Lovely meat-pie maker Mrs. Lovett. After their conversation on his wife Mrs. Lovett brings Sweeney up to his old barbershop.
Within this story of Sweeney's revenge there is a story about his daughter's flee for freedom form the evil Judge Turpin and her love for Anthony. Johanna is stuck in her home that she shares with Turpin and is not aloud out side, she stares out her window, endlessly longing for freedom. Then Anthony comes along and they instantly fall in love.
Then the scene goes to Turpin and Beetle and Turpin's "story". Turpin tells beetle that he's going to marry Johanna and Beetle tells him to go get a shave. Then back to Sweeney, where Turpin comes in wanting a shave. Mind you this is after Sweeney kills a guy named Pirelli. Turpin sits down in the chair and Sweeney and Turpin start talking then just when you think that Sweeney is going to get his revenge Anthony comes barging in and starts yapping about how he's going to free Johanna, upsetting Turpin. Then Turpin leaves angrily and Sweeney orders Anthony to leave, he leaves then Mrs. Lovett comes in. Sweeney hits his overflow of insanity. After that he and Mrs. Lovett go to Mrs. Lovett's bakery where they devise a plan (my favorite part.) They devise that Sweeney will kill all if not most of his costumers and Mrs. Lovett will make them into meat pies. (Is it wrong to want to try one?)
Then It goes to a scene where there is a cross cut between Sweeney and Anthony as they both think of Johanna and how they will see her again, while you watch Sweeney kill his customers and Anthony walking through a grave yard. Then it goes to Mrs. Lovett and her rising business of selling meat pies. (Yum people) Then it comes to the end.
Now that this writer has taken this class the movie has been torn apart. This Movie is like a Noar film, the lighting in the movie certainly sets the mood with all the shadows and naming Sweeney as the Noar loser.
Special effects are very elaborate but shallow. An example is at the beginning credits how the blood looks real but kind of animated a long with the meat being ground up. Very neat how they make the water look like blood it's a very simple CGI but it gives the movie great depth.
The special effects are not very elaborate. The scene on the road to Fleet Street from the docks shows how miserable life was in London at the time. The costuming in the movie gives each character a face, an identity. When he kills his victims there blood is very shallow and looks like orange juice but very interesting. The scene when Turpin looks in the window has a very interesting special effect showing a reflection that shouldn't be so clear. There is an unnecessary chase seen where Toby (Pirelli's assistant) hides in the sewer after he finds out that Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are killing people and putting them into pies. So they look for him in the sewer but they can't find him and they leave.
The angle shots in the movie are not straight forward are very clever mirror shots, reflective shots, close ups and moving shots. There are a lot of close ups in this movie Some very interesting like the cockroach going into the Mrs. Lovett's meat pie. There are also a lot of fore-shadows in the beginning credits. Mirrors give depth. The broken mirror in this movie gives more of a hidden meaning.
Since this movie is a musical it has a lot of music. Unlike the usual music it goes more toward the dismal type. From a normal viewer's view they would be thinking this movie is a very good but a strange musical because regular musicals are light and happy but this one is very depressing. The songs tell the inerter-monologue and show the character's feeling. In some they show flash backs.
When they weren't singing the back ground music sets a lot of the mood. The least favorite part is when they are singing the 'Pirelli's Miracle Elixir' and the most favorite scene is when Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are singing 'Little Priest'. The scene when Mrs. Lovett is talking about how they will live by the sea the back ground and singing is light and colorful, not to mention silly.
Over all, the characters especially, the protagonists, Sweeney, proves to be a bit mad, loopy, corrupt, and insane. They all sang by themselves and sang very well. The dialect is superb in fact this writer's favorite line is "My arm is complete again". This movie does attempt very poor, even creepy humor that makes a viewer just that more interested. This movie is an example of a frame story (a story built with in one or more stories). The acting in this movie is superb it might be considered a block buster. The difference in seeing this movie before this class and after is that a person would look at the movie more observant now then before.