sweeney todd

So Marc took me on a hot date today to see Sweeney Todd and I am on the fence. Obviously, it's a musical. I hate musicals. But we went cuz it's Tim Burton and if nothing else, it will be beautiful to look at. And it was. Other than that, it falls victim to the Burton-izing of every movie he does. Much like Wes Anderson, he sticks with the actors that work for him and while I've got absolutely nothing against Johnny Depp I just couldn't stop thinking that he looked like a perfect merging of Edward Scissorhands and Ichabod Crane. Maybe he needs to hire someone other than Colleen Atwood to do the costumes -- at least for one movie?? I really think, for me, this movie really suffered because I've seen this pairing too many times -- the whole Tim Burton and creepy Johnny Depp character. And that's saying something because I do think those two have a genius connection and have done some amazing work together. I also read some trivia and saw some of the other actresses that were considered for the role of Mrs. Lovette and I gotta say, I would have rather seen any of them in place of Helena Bonham Carter. And the girl who played Joanna was an exact replica of the Christina Ricci character in Sleepy Hollow -- and I mean exact! Really Tim? Same hairstyle and big doe eyes and everything?

All that being said, it is stunning to watch. The sets and colours are trademark Tim Burton and are gritty, stony, dirty and gothic. Kudos to the special effects dude -- the throat-slitting scenes are some of the goriest things I've seen and not for the faint of heart. Kudos for Sacha Baron Cohen for doing a great job with the small role of Adolfo Pirelli. And kudos for Johnny Depp for holding his own vocally -- that dude can sing! Helena...not so much.

But... it was still a musical. And I hate musicals. I'm not sure I can get over that.