Movie of the day: Sweeney Todd

I lucked out... a friend of mine caught wind of a sneak preview of Sweeney Todd, but had to work, and was kind enough to pass along his seat to me. I mentioned earlier about seeing previews of the movie, and how I was impressed by the visual scheme and so on... and that still holds. However... it's not the movie I hoped it would be. They ramped up the gore (which I pretty much expected), but they also toned down the humor (which I didn't).

It's like Tim Burton and company decided that, rather than darkly humorous, they'd stick with dark, and toss in a little humor once in a great while. Two examples come to mind... in the stage play, when the beggar woman gets treated nicely, she ramps up to cobblestone-whore mode in a flash, which you see no sign of here. Also, in the "Have A Little Priest" number, they dropped the verse referencing the General with or without his Privates... and, rather than being just a conversation between the principals, the song is sung while they're peering out of the windows of the pie shop, ghoulishly surveying the exact targets of their verses... takes the song from funny to downright creepy.

Worst of the lot, in my mind, was the guy playing Sweeney (Johnny Depp, I believe? I'm terrible with actor's names). In every other production I've seen, Sweeney is obsessed, but still able to function in society with limited aid from Mrs. Lovett, and possessed of a certain wry humor. Here, Sweeney is shown to be practically catatonic when not in immediate pursuit of his goals (which, I'll admit, they do play up nicely in the "By the Sea" number), and deadpan throughout.

Mind you, there were some fun bits... getting the gent who plays Snape in the Harry Potter movies to take on the role of Judge Turpin was a great call, and I swear I should recognize where I've seen the gent they got to play the Beadle, but I can't... which is a shame, he's got oily obsequiousness and viciousness down pat.

Final verdict? If you're looking for a gorefest, this movie will satisfy, and feel free to catch it in the theater. Me, I may well pick it up on DVD... well after it comes out, of course, and mainly to pair with the DVD of the Angela Lansbury version I've already got. For most of you... eh, it's a fair rental, if you can stomach the gore.