Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I'm a big fan of musicals, have been ever since doing my first one (Tom Sawyer) in the 8th grade. I love watching them, I love being in them. That said, I was only mildly familiar with Stephen Sondheim's take on the "Demon Barber of Fleet Street". All I really knew was he was a barber who killed people and a lady made the flesh into meat pies.

And that is the basic story, butt here is much, much more to this story and this may have easily propelled itself to the top of my list of favorite musicals, surely at the top of my favorite film adaptions of musicals.

Yes it's gruesome but it's also tragic with a great heartbreaking ending.

Tim Burton is back in great form directing this macabre tale. From the opening animation of blood to the final fiery conclusion.

And the acting, across the board from Johnny Depp to Helena Bonham Carter to Alan Rickman, are suburb. And the supporting roles are great too. In addition to the two Slythirans from the Harry Potter movies (Carter and Rickman), Timothy Spall (Peter Petigrew in the Potter films) is a pleasant surprise. Sasha Baron Cohen has a small supporting role that he relishes in. And as in any musical adaption, you have to critique the musical performances, which are great. Depp, who has a musical background in rock, really surprised me. I knew he could sing, but I didn't know if he'd be able to pull off Sondheim's complicated music, he did. Alan Rickman is a force of nature, and his few musical numbers are very well done. Carter is also really good, able to sing and bake pies and kills bugs all at the same time. It's a complicated role and she pulls it off.

I said it before and I'll say it again, this film is bloody. The blood flows freely and often. From the opening credit sequence to the closing scene.

Overall a great and enjoyable movie.