Try the Priest...
So I was actually relatively pleased with Burton's imperfect Sweeney Todd, in spite of my unreasonable expectations (are we surprised zenithblue has a Sweeney obsession? No we are not.). The performances were all pretty great, though Burton shows a surprising inability to fulfill a musical's need for spectacle (when did Tim "Inventor of Large Marge" Burton forget how to use spectacle, I ask you?). All the moments of genius of the movie are Sondheim, and none of them are Burton, it's sad to say.
That said, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were both solid. Depp has a deadpan that occasionally annoyed me--I wanted more sinister hostility--but which creates an interestingly introspective Sweeney. And Bonham Carter was marvelous as a high-strung and slightly batshit Mrs. Lovett.
It's worth mentioning that I'm thinking about the movie a week and a half after seeing it, which speaks to some staying power.
I sat down to write today, which meant I spent an hour on Youtube warming up to the idea of writing, and discovered some lovely soul has uploaded clips from the 1982 production starring George Hearn and Angela Lansbury. If you've ever wanted to imagine Mrs. Potts planning to cook Belle in a pie, this is for you. Enjoy.
Click to view