Sweeney Todd: Musical Hell Review #46 (4th ANNIVERSARY SPECTACULAR!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd, a movie that's kind of...maybe almost...good, in a way?
Thanks to Steve from "Judge of Character," Archer Slam-BAM, and Jess for the cameos!
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Yeah... I don't think Sweeney is singing about wanting to kill Johanna. He is resigning himself to the fact that he will never see his daughter again, and needing to basically try to not remember her
Yes agree
This line went from horrific to very, very sad.
He's killing the idea of her
This is exactly what I was going to comment
Now watching the video and you are right. At that point in the movie, he cares more about revenge than about his family he's left. That is his ultimate downfall.
I don't think Sweeney means to kill his daughter in the Johanna Quartet. I feel when he says goodbye to Johanna, he is saying goodbye to the idea of seeing her. The reason he becomes okay with this idea is because he is releasing his anger and despair into the people he murders, they are like an emotional "stabbing" bag.
Something interesting I've noticed about this show. There's a recurring motif of Johana being referred to as an object. I know this story takes place in the Victorian Era but they really go all out on it. In the Johana reprisal Sweeny sings refers to her as his pet and wants her to be a certain way in order to maintain a connection with his wife and Anthony talks about "stealing" her. There's also the fact that Judge Turpin likely only took in Johanna in order to keep a piece of Lucy all to himself and when the time is right, be able to use Johana as a surrogate Lucy (in sex).
Tate Hildyard
In the musical, the judge was actually conflicted by his desire to bang his ward and his Christian belief, so he whipped himself a couple of times and resolved it.
Whereas Johanna was bird shit crazy. Her first song established it pretty well, then there was the paranoia and later the doctor said she did belong in the mental asylum, it wasn’t all because of the judge.
For some reason, in the western culture you can’t even mention pedophilia without freaking out some people.
Where I came from, people often say “three years is a bargain deal, death penalty is not at a loss.” Because having sex with an underage is punishable by minimum of 3 years of incarceration to maximum of death penalty.
That is a joke btw, people who say this don’t actually go around rape children thinking it’s actually worth it.
@@starcrash-ash6061 I quite like Philip Quast's portrayal of Turpin. By the end of the song it looks like the whipping turned him on which he wasn't expecting. Plus Johanna's reaction after being told he wants to marry her is brilliant in that version. It's the only performance I've seen so far where Johanna and Anthony seem to have personalities.
I agree. I think it was his way of saying he isn't going to see her again, and he's so far gone that it's best if he doesn't see her. So he's saying goodbye to the daughter he never got to know, and won't be emotionally stable enough to see.
I think what sets Sweeney Todd apart from movie versions of musicals like Phantom of The Opera is that the people invovled gave a shit.
The fact that the cast in Sweeney Todd can actually sing certainly helps.
Plus, the director’s visual style fit the musical
I mean...phantom was basically Sir Andy's personal passion project- wait, sorry, that's *vanity* project. In any case, it was definitely produced by people that cared immensely about it, it's just that Sir Andy's decision to involve himself so heavily and only hire the handful of movie industry professionals willing to be spineless yesmen to him (who, not coincidentally, were all terrible) smothered it in its crib.
@@iusethisnameformygoogleacc1013 Let's just hope it's not the same old story if they ever get around to the 'Sunset Blvd.' film that's been on/off for so long. (Love how you demote Lord Lloyd Webber down to Sir Andy!)
And the director is a big fan of the original. A fanboy directed this movie.
I liked Carter as Lovett, but I don't think she was given the right direction. She can do crazy, look at Bellatrix, but she feels too restrained. I would've like her to start with the depressed shop owner, but have this ulterior motive that as the songs go on, her darker side gets revealed more and more.
It's really strange because it was also her dream role and Tim was originally hesitant to cast her but Sondheim actually had to convince him too.
If I remember correctly it was actually Sondheim himself who told her to make her performance as toned down as possible
@@jdprettynails defos not how I heard it. But whatever it doesn't really matter
@@jdprettynails I believe it was Tim Burton who wanted the toned down performance. It didn't work.
From what I’m hearing, carter could have done a whole lot better if not held back like she supposedly was.
Am I really the only one who knows why the Ballad got cut?
It was ready to go as you mentioned, but got axed because of Depp's daughter.
She got really sick, and Johnny had to leave production to help care for her. Apparently she was so sick, production didn't know if he was coming back so everything with the film was stalled for a couple weeks.
Obviously everything got better, but a stalled production caused the budget to be cut, so no Ballad and no ghosts because of it.
ReelsandRoses: I'm sorry that happened, for more reasons than one.
yes, i wished more people knew about this
I'm glad I know now. I can forgive it being left out wholeheartedly.
It's true. Lily-Rose almost died because her kidneys shut down from E. Coli poisoning when she was seven years old. For 9 days, Tim Burton stopped shooting the movie so Johnny could be with her until she was out of danger.
@@ashhiz4350
Yikes! That's a horrible thing for a kid to go through!
...well, it'd be horrible for anyone to go through, but still!
The movie works because it still takes itself seriously enough for you to care, but not so much that you can't have fun with it.
KC I believe it for most of the film you can't have fun with it, except for the well placed comic relief moments.
I guess they took the fun from it on purpose
I'm crying at 'Jack Sparrow's manically depressed cousin'
Ghost Bait the Homer Simpson part kills me every time
I consider him a darker version of Edward Scissorhands.
Off-topic, different review - but I was dying when she said that Emmy Rossum as Christine in Phantom of the Opera was horrified (at the Joseph Buquet onstage hanging), or stumped by a very hard math problem.
"..... usually reserved for opera, Shakespeare, and the later Harry Potter books." True, true.
Sophia C
That's why I thought it was intentional, this has that high-fallutin' melodramatic feel of an opera
SHE HAS A TUNING FORK THAT'S GENIUS
OMG I thought I was the only one who noticed!!!
I love that touch!😆
Love your picture! ^^
God better be taking care of our beloved Alan.
You know if he were in this I'd actually enjoy it.
Josie - well said ♥️
_He_ would’ve been a great Sweeney.
And now Sondheim himself too
It’s so odd to see young Grindewald play against old Grindewald play against Bellatrix, Snape and Pettigrew.
You blew my mind my goodness..
*open mouthed surprise*
God how I love this actors❤️
That's probably why there are plenty of Harry Potter references, even when not referencing the actors. And why the later books are mentioned as having loads of contrivances above Dickens.
Get the Joana girl to play Ariana and Sasha for a dark wizard and we're done
I started dying laughing at Lovett saying “that’s all very well, But what are we gonna do about him?”
the reason why the ballad was rejected is because Johnny had to leave the set to take care of his very sick daughter, they didn’t know if he was coming back which caused a pause on filming which caused a budget cut, resulting in no ballad
Is that the? I never heard that.
Still salty that the movie cut the best line from A Little Priest:
"This one might be a bit stringy, but then again it is *fiddle player*"
"No this isn't fiddle player, it's piccolo player."
"How can you tell?"
"It's *piping hot*!"
"THEN BLOW ON IT FIRST!"
Or the "locksmith" part
Also NOT in the movie but my fav is:
MRS. LOVETT
Since Marine doesn't appeal to you,
how about Rear Admiral?
TODD
Too salty. I prefer General.
MRS. LOVETT
With or without his privates? --
"With" is extra.
@@paulmazierski5945 lol
My main problem with the movie version of A Little Priest, is Johnny Depp completely fucks up the timing of "I'll come again when you have judge on the menu." Putting too much emphasis on the word "again" so it just sounds like a normal statement instead of actually rhyming.
They didn't just cut that but the whole of the third verse which has the best quips in the song including my personal favorite "Try the financier, peak of his career. That looks pretty rank. Well he drank it's a bank cashier."
I laughed my arse off at Anthony sharing Homer's thoughts. Good to have you back, Diva!
Me too lol
+Kitty Grimm So did I, because that's precisely what I was thinking too.
I actually had to reply that part just for the hilarity.
yh same. i defiantly did not see that coming... and i didn;t even think of it.
True story: My cousin actually was Mrs. Lovett in a few stage productions of Sweeney Todd, and her performance was a lot closer to Angela Lansbury's take on the character--so upon seeing the movie, my reaction to HBC as her was similar to Diva's. But yeah--other than her, Tim Burton was honestly the perfect choice to adapt this to screen. Johnny Depp, despite his weird skunk hair, really owns this role, and Alan Rickman--it's Alan Rickman, do I need to say anything?
I loved Carter as Lovett. She was brutal, whacky, a great singer, and turned me on in a kind of weird way. Any you're right, Alan Rickman can do no wrong.
Weird skunk hair!? Haha!!
I actually have hair like that o:
I actually think Helena's strongest part in this film is in the finale, she sounds so desperate, like she's almost stumbling over her words. It contrasts beautifully to Depp almost completely ignoring her in his grief.
For me it's the shot right after she locks Toby inside the bakehouse. She doesn't say anything, but her facial expression reveals so much, that she knows Toby will have to die to keep her and Sweeney's plot going, but that she's grown genuinely close to him, something that you don't see in other productions of the musical.
Those parts actually worked. Helena tries but for most of it, it doesn't work. I really wish they went more Bellatrix Lestrange instead of....this for most of the film. But yeah those parts kinda worked
Although the movie is based off of the musical (duh), in the original book Sweeney is described to have had weird skunk hair.
I assume you're being satirical, but if true it would probably come as a great surprise to British punk rocker Dave Vanian of The Damned, from whom Burton swiped Sweeney's hairstyle and costume.
Ok during the Johanna Quartet (Though it's not a quartet in this version. Where's Johanna during this song???) Todd is not fantasising about killing Johanna. He's reconciling himself to the fact that he'll never see her again because of the judge. The 'You're gone and yet you're mine" is him telling himself that although Johanna is gone and he will never get to meet her, she's still his daughter and will always be a part of him. It's a really beautiful piece that is not about murder!
At least the lyrics aren't, there is certainly a lot of murder going on.
I disagree. It's already been established that he doesn't want Johanna to run away with Anthony because that would mean losing her again, and he hasn't given up on killing Turpin ("And I will get him back even as he gloats/In the meantime I'll practice on less honorable throats"). Deciding that killing Johanna is the only way to truly "keep" her, while at the same time permanently doing away with the pain of losing Lucy ("And you'd be beautiful and pale and look too much like her") fits better with his character arc and descent into blind obsession.
But he only kills those who he thinks deserve to die. He want's to kill the Judge and the Beadle because they wronged him personally, and he wants to kill london society at large because they let it happen and laughed. Although his actions are despicable, they have a certain morality to them. Notice that he does not kill the man with the wife and daughter because he doesn't want to hurt them or break their family apart. As far as he is concerned, Johanna is perfect and deserves a happy family, which he knows he cannot give her, so the best he can do for her is stay out of her life.
Just to clarify, I absolutely love this review aside from this one tiny point.
But what does that mean, when he declares "we all deserve to die"? And sparing the man with the family could just as easily be pragmatism (Mrs. Lovett certainly seems to think so) as empathy. Sweeney may have started out with (semi-) justifiable reasons for what he does, but a key point of his arc is how his focus on revenge causes him to lose sight of those reasons to the point where he literally and figuratively destroys the things he believed he was fighting for.
Diva: I agree with your thematic interpretation and that Sweeney Todd ends up destroying the things he had hoped to save. However, I also think that he doesn't want to kill his daughter, but he is resigning himself to never seeing her again. Oh well.
About Todd's chair in the musical, Todd does say "I have a few minor adjustments"
Isn't cacophony pronounced "kuh-KOFF-oh-nee"?
LaydiNite sure is.
Yeah.
There are generally two pronunciations: the one you present and the one Diva used. It's all about how you put together syllables and stress them.
Having now seen the movie, I actually liked it. On the subject of the opening number, I found out that Burton said something like ""There's no point in telling people to 'attend the tale of Sweeney Todd" because that's what they're about to do".
Which doesn't make sense, because "attend" in this case means to pay close attention--it's a way of grabbing the (stage or screen) audience by saying "Listen up, we have a hell of a story for you."
I know. It's taking "show don't tell" the wrong way. I actually do like the opening of the movie, but still miss the song.
I've always interpreted the line "Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd" as a double meaning. At first it is beckoning you to come, attend the tale of Sweeney Todd and watch the show, but at the end it means come, examine, and attend to the tale of Sweeney Todd
By that logic, that's what the stage audience are doing too....
Elsie luckily there is a much better reason that really makes it no one’s fault
I just realize something, when the others are yelling for you to do this review, it almost sounds like that line from the ballad in the beginning of the musical.
that's kind of awesome.
The reason all the choral numbers were taken out was because Sondheim himself hated the idea of the film, which is meant to be realistic, having an abstract chorus in it.
Then why make it a musical at all if gritty realism was so important?
@@elsie8757 Because even in an adaptation, the rules of musical theatre still apply- speak until you're so emotional you have to sing. The better question is, why do you need a chorus narrating when you're, for all intents and purposes, watching events unfold "live"? The stage play is people re-telling a story- the movie is the story as it actually happened.
@@elsie8757 Sondheim and Lansbury apparently also preferred the first filmed version, I believe for HBO, where they did it as a chamber piece with close ups on the camera. He always felt it was a realistic drama, not a huge Victorian musical or grand opera (same for Passion.) That said, I was lucky enough to see the original production way back on Bway with Lansbury and Cariou when I was on spring break from college, at the old Uris Theater. It was operatic, over-the-top in production values, and spectacular. It's one reason why a lot of opera companies ended up doing the piece, ironic since Sondheim detests opera.
Sondheim actually supported this film and was heavily involved with the production (he had final say on the casting & supervised the orchestrations). When you’re doing a big budget musical adaptation people were likely gonna criticize the chorus addressing the audience for the ballads; fans of the musical (like myself) wouldn’t have cared if they included them which would’ve been fun.
The early ‘80s version had the advantage of being a filmed stage performance & of course we get all the goods
What a way to return. I'm glad you gave this an overall positive review as Sweeney Todd holds a very special place in my heart due to it being the first musical movie I saw in theaters.
+TWK Reviews I also saw Sweeney Todd in theaters with my dad and sister.
I loved the movie Sweeney Todd! It was actually the first rated R movies that I've ever seen. I also love the stage musical. I have both the original cast recording and the movie soundtrack on my iPod and I would always listen to the soundtracks during Halloween time. And one year for my birthday, my mom got me a yarn doll of Sweeney Todd and for Christmas another year I got a little megablox style Sweeney Todd. I also have a Sweeney Todd movie poster hanging on my wall.
Sweeney Todd has been one of my Halloween treats from year to year, too!
I keep seeing this all over the internet but it still shocks me how many Harry Potters actors there are in this. Snape, Wormtail, Bellatrix, anyone else I should know about?
Ashleigh Tompkins Well, both Anthony and Sweeney play Grindelwald now.
Sweeney Todd still did buy the chair through mail, in the movie. Just from IKEA.
It was from the Karvnek collection.
@@saffiegirl4158
IKEA names are usually random Swedish words, try something like VILA or FRID (rest and peace respectively. There is a series of couches named vilasund, sund meaning either strait or sane.)
First off, welcome back and congrats on four years.
I'm not a huge fan of Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd (not to say that I hate it, I have the same opinion you do, what it gets right, it gets it very right and Burton does know how to stage musical numbers pretty well). However, there are a couple of things I'd like to add.
While the original musical is pretty grim, there is actually a lot of humor present in the story, which helps make the tragedy more jarring and even more disturbing because of how it fleshes out the characters and how we laughed at all of this (similar to the social madness present in the group songs). And it's not like Burton can't do dark humor, look at Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Taking all the fun out of it does the same thing that cutting the chorus does, zaps all of the energy present although I can see why they took that direction.
In addition to giving Antony and Johanna's relationship the short stick, I think reducing the role of the beggar woman was a mistake. In classic theater, the mad character is the only one who can speak the truth and the beggar woman (who shows up several times in the stage version) is no exception. It also adds to the tragedy because Sweeney's drive for revenge blinded him to the point that he failed to notice those he loved right there until it was too late. I felt reducing her character to just an occasional visit destroyed that because we're wondering who the heck this person is and their role to the story.
Now I'm going to get ragged on for this but I'm not too fond of this version of Turpin (although this is something I blame the screenwriters for). Rickman did a decent job playing an upper-crust judge with a vindictive streak. However, I found him way too charming. Turpin is a creepy character and I think just having a couple moments of him spying on Johanna removes his effectiveness as a villain. While he did imprison her father and raped her mother under the pretenses of helping her, what makes him really scary is when he starts lusting after Johanna, who he raised as his own daughter. As you mentioned, there was the song that is often cut. If they put in "Mea Culpa" here, I think that really would've sealed the deal here and give us more reason to root for Todd.
Overall, it's not terrible but it's not my favorite.
Ummm not the beggar , she is important to the story
Brenna Brodbeck She is key but in the show she pops up several more times than just at the pie shop, in front of Turpin's house and at Todd's parlor. She is one the first character to greet Antony and Todd when they get off the ship in London, is the first to call out Mrs. Lovett on her actions and also appears during City on Fire calling for the Beadle to take care of Lovett. In the movie, she is severely cut down and it lessens her impact on the plot. The whole tragedy is much more poignant in the show because she was right there the whole time but because Todd was so blinded by vengeance he failed to see it until it was too late.
agreed, *janey* - and it makes sense that she should keep hanging around those places, because in her madness they're the only connection she has to her former life. (In the original pre-Sondheim melodrama, it's made clear Mrs Lovett gave the Beadle access to kidnap Johanna, and so had to be punished before play's end.) Removing those appearances by the beggar woman not only removes the foreshadowing for what on the stage is an inevitable outcome of grinding Fate but in the film is just a kind of weird happenstance that the beggar woman should show up _in Todd's parlour_ just when she does, but it also removes the sad undercurrent that at almost any time Todd _could_ have alleviated the tragedy if he'd only looked around him and not had his vision occluded by his need for revenge.
I'm far less forgiving of the film, because to my mind it gets _so much_ wrong, and those things it arguably gets right (apart from Burton's clever visuals) are things it directly inherited from the stage material and simply didn't muck around with in the process of translation to film. No Brownie points for that! I'm personally dissatisfied with almost all of the main performances, but also with the way the original melodrama plot gets dumbed down, presumably due to lack of trust for film audiences to be able to cope with either the artifice or the complexity. I've watched the film one-and-a-bit times, but can't bring myself to watch it again, for all that I love the score.
In my opinion, the entire movie goes for a 'people broken by the times' angle here. In a way, the fact that Alan Rickman's performance seems to show that he genuinely cares for Johanna is emblematic of how fucked up the world is. And although the movie does miss out on a lot of the good stuff in the musical (I'm still salty about 'A Little Priest' here), it does manage to capture the subtext of the world creating deeply flawed individuals in different ways (note how almost every single major character is damaged in one way or another), which to me is a major plus.
janeyrevanescence12 wow you took a lot of time to write this. Props to you!
The whole idea behind the film was for it to be darker than the original so I don't understand why people constantly say it should've been more humorous and the characters are too dark. If the people wanted a film adaption exactly and utterly true to the original they wouldn't have asked Tim Burton to direct it. That's the bare bones of the situation. I do think a more "accurate" adaption would be amazing though. 😊
Humor can still work in a dark story. And the humor in Sweeney Todd was dark comedy, which is good to get people laughing before they go "Oh, God, I was laughing about cannibalism."
Sometimes comedy is best to show our darker sides.
Sondheim was involved in this cinematic production. In interviews, he stated that this production was purposefully a "cinematic" version in which the original source was revised and some additions made. Instead of making a movie of the stage version, (which many movies made from musicals have done) Burton (with Sondheim's help) made a movie version. It's more visual; it cut some songs, added a few things here and there. I think that's why you it didn't live up to the stage version but you still liked it. It's a slightly different take; reduced time for the screen; emphasizing certain things, reducing others. I agree with everything you say; Depp (voice and acting) was quite good as Sweeney, Bonham Carter a bit too one dimensional; Johanna's character was not developed as much, without "Mea Culpa" (which I did NOT miss in the movie) and the added scene with Anthony in his house, Rickman's Turpin was made more simple...a perverse bad guy to hate (perfect casting...love Rickman!); A Little Priest wasn't as humorous as it should have been but movie version of Epiphany was visually fantastic and the ending even more bleak by somewhat forgetting about Johanna/Anthony and making Toby look more pleased with his revenge for Mrs. Lovett than a crazy person driven into insanity like in the theatrical version....no happy endings here.
How cool would it be if Ballad bookended the film, with the first scene seeing the ghosts rise up from the ground and the last scene returning to the grave yard as we follow Toby, Antony and Johanna visiting the graves. The ghosts rise and sing the the song before the slaughtered bodies of the principal cast physically climb out from their graves when sweeney's grave explodes and the lid of his casket flies off. He rises up in an unearthly manner, blades crossed over his chest as the blood begins to run from the throats of the bodies and ghosts before they all fall back into their graves and the casket slams shut with the final note of the ballad
Michael Angelo: Your vision for the opening for the Sweeney Todd film is close to mine: ghosts singing at a graveyard.
This...sounds...
*BADASS*
That’s actually kinda horrifying! I like it!
Sweeney Todd is one of Tim Burton's best films, next to Edward Scissorhands and his adaptations of Batman.
TheTriumphgurl in my opinion it is his best not trying to discourage your opinion just sharing mine
TheTriumphgurl and beetlejuice, don't forget beetlejuice
I’m rather fond of Corpse Bride.
I think Big Fish is better, to be honest.
true
11:45 It would've been fun to make a small Edward Scissorhands joke because of how fast he was, but oh well. Nonetheless great review. I like the movie and if the musical is even better, then I should see it someday.
+DeepEye1994 Dammit, you're right! Ah well, here's to missed opportunities.
@@MusicalHell but I think that joke would’ve been too obvious (great review of an underrated movie).
This movie used to be a constant watch for me. I remember seeing the trailer only once, and when I saw the dvd I had to immediately get it. From that point, I was watching it once a week for the next few months, lol.
Humorously enough, when I was on this Sweeney Tod craze, I always imagined this turning into a Grand Theft Auto sort of video game, and maybe have an occasional rhythm challenge with the music.
The absence of the chorus of Londoners may have been a practical consideration. I'm pretty sure that Sondheim adapted the musical for a scaled-down production, including a less than full orchestra, so the film is no less official than the original. But the chorus is a character all to itself and works brilliantly in the original.
And far easier to have a stage chorus comment on the action than on film. That idea tends to turn off most audiences who don’t like or see musicals
I like this movie. I'm not saying it's perfect, but, in my opinion, it's still great.
Judge Turpin: Ah, there's nothing like having a relaxing shave by a fellow that looks remarkably like the husband of that girl I raped years ago after a long day of sentencing cute kids to the gallows. Isn't that right, you psychotic looking gentleman?
Sweeney Todd: *spins around dramatically bearing razor* Indeed
I feel the big thing that Sweeney Todd does right is even though it’s a musical, it’s also a movie adaptation and it has to work enough as a movie that people who haven’t heard of the musical or don’t usually watch musicals other than Disney can watch it and not feel completely out of the loop. Like the opening for example. The movie, while still utilizing the instrumental, didn’t do a full vocal version of the Ballad of Sweeney Todd. People expect movies to have an opening sequence instead of an opening number like a musical, and they still gave us stunning and interesting enough visuals while utilizing the instrumental of the song and not completely forgetting its existence. I know Johanna and Anthony seem like an after thought through most of the movie, that’s mostly because the movie is focusing on the main story of Sweeney and Lovett. They would need more time to flesh out their characters like in the musical, and unless you’re Titanic and filled with a lot of pointless filler to make you kinda care for your characters in the span of a four hour movie, you’re not gonna do it enough justice to please musical fans or movie goers in the limited time you have. But they don’t completely ignore them and cut them out of the story entirely, which I enjoy. That could also be a reason why some of the songs were cut or out of place. They had to flow like a movie despite the fact that it’s a musical. And honestly, I didn’t discover the musical first and actually saw the movie before I got a chance to see a stage production. While it doesn’t do the musical all the justice it deserves, it’s a great introduction to it, and Tim’s Burton’s audience is used to creepy and unusual and probably would be interested in checking out the original. I do understand your grievances and respect your opinion and your verdict. I just like giving different perspectives to topics and hope it sparks a thoughtful conversation, if any. Thanks for reading if you’re actually seeing this and I love your videos. I’m a fairly new viewer but I enjoy what you do and hope to see more. 😊
Wow, you singing Johanna/Maria Is actually really good! Have you ever been in a musical?
Though I have glumly accepted Carter's underperformance of Mrs. Lovett, I STILL won't get over the excision of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd." especially after learning that we lost the opportunity to see ASH (who would make a cracking good Mr. Todd himself in a stage revival) and Chris Lee (who would've made a terrifyingly excellent Judge Turpin, R.I.P.) on-screen. And what would've been the harm at having the "Ballad's" reprise at the end, with all the murdered ghosts showing up, along with Todd and Mrs. Lovett, as in the stage version? Oh, well, it is what it is...
The second I heard Homer Simpson’s voice in Anthony’s head I died 😂
I love at the ending of the show when toby returns to the meat grinder because hes so shocked by mrs Lovett's death
That original opening would've killed everyone from just its epicness alone: They couldn't risk it.
A little interesting fact for all the Johnny Depp fangirls not only can he sing AND act but he is also fluent in French!
In my opinion Russel Crowe and Butler don't have bad singing voices. I think they're just in the wrong genre! I think the would fit quite decent in Rock or Country!
One thing I will always be grateful to this movie for is the sight of a depressed Johnny Depp in an old-timey swimsuit. Made me laugh so hard XD
I played Sweeney Todd in the play at my school, I actually did way better than I thought I would,only problem was that when I was dumping people,a lot of them hit their butts on the stage because I didn't push the chair far enough, and one kid had to go to the nurse,but overall I would give myself a 7/10
WOOOOOOO! YOUR BACK DIVA!
This is an awesome review--I wasn't expecting it but I'm glad you did it. You both acknowledge what Sweeney Todd did right, and where it fell short brilliantly. As someone who loves this movie, it's a good review, and I will admit I actually agreed on flaws you pointed out. Probably the best part is the reveal for your next review--when you propped up the poster for Princess and the Pea, I was screaming "YES!" because I've always wanted to see it on Musical Hell and you're finally doing it. I saw that awful movie quite a long while ago, and it deserves its day in court. It's a real dire product--not only does it rip-off Disney, it even rips-off the other Disney rip-offs (like Swan Princess and Anastasia), so it's a rip-off of a rip-off. There's a lot to tackle. I look forward to it next month.
By the way, considering I did suggest Princess and the Pea quite a long time ago, what finally made you decide to do it? This will be definitely a highly anticipated review, whenever it comes out.
+harrietamidala1691 And there was already a good musical version of Princess and the Pea--Once Upon a Mattress. Too bad none of its TV adaptations were too faithful.
+Anton Spivack I've seen the 2005 TV version of Once Upon a Mattress. I feel like it's really restrained from a more grown-up source material.
+harrietamidala1691 True, thought the two productions with Carol Burnett were a bit restrained as well.
+Anton Spivack Yeah, that's a better musical adaptation of Princess and the Pea, and it was done tongue-in-cheek!
.... I only realise now that your Pitchfork is a Tuning Fork….
My eyes and mind have failed me!
I love Helena in this film. But tbh I could watch her in anything.
We have the same birthday, she an me
can you review les miserables
bryanna cassidy noo it deserves to be in heaven
@@lora1002 nahh it's a mixed bag
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" getting *two* saving graces caught me off guard! 👀
(4:06---4:22) *Mr. Todd's Wild Ride!*
Oh lol
New musical hell episode!!!!! Dreams really do come true.
The reason this movie was actually good as an adaption was because the people behind actually gave a shit making it, and took a lot of love and care to create the world (even Sondheim himself was the reason the cut the chorus from the movie, because he just didn't like how it would work for a movie), unlike, as you've stated, Phantom of the Opera or A Chorus Line. That's saying a lot given how Helena said that Tim Burton actually hates musicals, but was willing to craft the movie well anyway.
saw it on stage on broadway and because it was our high school drama club trip we got to stay after and some of the actors came back out and talked to us and answered a few questions and told hilarious stories about big mess ups and such. no movie could ever replace that joyous thrill. it was performed by Len cairou and dorthory loudon. not the originals but still the original production. with the original sung opening.
I love this movie. The chopped up soundtrack notwithstanding, it's an excellent adaptation of the play that I've seen a bunch of times and plan on seeing a bunch more.
Would you ever review multiple adaptations of the same musical? I'd love to hear your views on the 25th anniversaries of Phantom and Les Mis.
The Homer Simpson voiceover is too much, I started dying after hearing the scream.
The opening number should have been of various parents reading the book “Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber...” to their children (the ultimate “Grimm’s Fairy Tale”). We could swirl around London, going in various children’s bedroom windows. “Attend The Tale Of Sweeney Todd”!
I'm curious to hear how you arrived at your interpretation of 'Johanna'.
I too imagine Patty LuPone serving human meat.
"Here, Pearl! It's genuine."
Was that a Steven Universe reference? Because Pearl doesn't eat
Lady R Of Rage I know I’m late but I laughed too hard
11:00 | I think that's one of the grains of truth to the old 'musical theater is gay as all get out' stereotype. Not that I'm complaining.
Thanks for that tune, by the way.
@@TheProfessor529 , by the way, what is that song?
@@stephaniewozny3852 | 'The Good Thing' - th-cam.com/video/3Fnorb6fcJc/w-d-xo.html
Look up at the sound of the door opening, gasp in surprise - wide eyed, like you've just seen the ghost of your old neighbor, wait a beat to figure out what you're seeing, and then excitedly exclaim "A customer!"
This is not difficult! Why is Angela Lansbury the only person who's done that right? Everyone else rushes through... They just play the page as written, they don't bother to understand the context. That is why Angela Lansbury is the best Mrs. Lovett - because in 40 years, she's the only one who can *_ACT!_* )
I disagree. I saw Patti Lupone's interpretation of Mrs. Lovett on Broadway. At times I felt Angela Lansbury's interpretation was a bit too cartoonish and slapstick, whereas Lupone's was more mercenary. Lupone really hit the comedic part when they sang "A Little Priest."
You need to do Musical Heaven, Reviews of Musicals you absolutely love.
A funny thing I found out about Sweeney Todd is that Sondheim himself was the one responsible for deciding the actors and could have blocked both Depp and Boham-Carter, but he liked their singing (and Bohan-Carter even said that she always wanted to play Mrs. Lovett)
For kids in theatre in 1979. This was our Hamilton. I saw Hearn and Lansbury in SF. It was marvelous. Thrilling. Perfection. I loved the movie. Visually great. HBC gave a consistent believable performance. My experience wAs that her evil was very well hidden and artfully exposed. Depp was great. There was a physical slightness to he and mrs Lovett that really did make them vulnerable victims to their times. And this I’ll say about the score. At least they didn’t beat the hell out of it as in INTO THE WOODS. Now there’s a movie you can tear the hell out of town.
“What is it with musical theatre’s fascination with men’s crotches, anyway?” Ma’am,,,,, the Homosexuality
A thought I had about the choral sections of this (mainly Pirelli’s elixir and god that’s good), I don’t understand why it was cut as “weird.” Those scenes are written so the crowd doesn’t actually have the same thoughts. There’s a note in Sondheim’s book “finishing the hat.” It’s my biggest issue the movie as a whole. That and the cutting of kiss me (I just played Anthony this summer and it was my favorite thing to sing in the show, so much fun)
I am probably gonna give an unpopular opinion, and that is that I like Carter as Mrs. Lovett. I enjoy that innocent sound to go with that manipulation. It makes her seem more evil because she is able to hide her intentions until it all falls apart with Todd killing his wife, and Lovett having to say she lied. It is just, perfect for me because it gives that duel personality she needs. Also, the Johanna song I think is more him saying goodbye as he has accepted the fact that he will never see her again until Anthony shows up saying that he knows where she is.
Oh my gosh I'm so proud of you!!! I absolutely love Musical Hell and all of your reviews (especially the Phantom and love never dies movie reviews because they made me feel the exact same way). You are so funny and amazing, and your character Diva is absolutely one of the funniest characters I've ever seen! You are also part of my inspiration for becoming a TH-camr. So thank you for these four years and looking forward to so many more!
Hiii late comment here haha,
I like the review but it seemed you missed a few thingies. One of them is that he does not sing about killing Johanna in the song (as a few others have pointed out). He sings about letting go of ever seeing her again. Because at this moment his main focus is revenge and killing, and not his family anymore. (which is ultimately his downfall, because at the end he got so caught up in killing mindlessly, he kills his own wife and almost his daughter.)
But also,,, I thought honestly that Sweeney was okay with Anthony and Joanna being together. Because Anthony saved him from the ocean (as I understood). Sweeney knew Anthony was a good young man.
Also I love Helena as ms Lovett. She plays desperate well, as you said. And I mean,, most the character was desparate. Willing to do anything for the man she loved. Even just, go crazy with all the meat pies and canibalism. She is like welllll if he's okay with it, let's go!! + it was helena's direction. She was told to not be too crazy or theatrical, because there were already many things in the backgrounds and crazy costumes, and they didn't want to make the movie feel crowded!
So glad you're back Diva! And what a fantastic review! Can't believe I've only discovered this channel recently. Absolutely loved every bit of content you've done, so please continue with the great work, you have my 100% support :D
I just realized "pretty women" can be replaced with "Alan Rickman" and now I'm rewriting the entire song.
22:23 dare I say it...sick burn bro lol
The one thing that I kind of realized, looking back at this review (two years after the fact, shame on me...) is that, as you basically put it, Helena Bonham-Carter, whom I like as an actress, wasn't as manic as she needed to be. If we're going to compare her version of Mrs. Lovett to other characters, she needed to be more akin to Maleficent or Nurse Ratchett's level of villainy. Here, it's like she's the Harley Quinn to Sweeney Todd's Joker, and it does not work well, here. Essentially, they needed to be the same level of crazy, is what I mean to say.
I agree with Diva on this one.... It's not a bad movie.
Like your Phantom screenplay (dunno how much of Diva's audience knows this, but her human counterpart once wrote a simply fabulous film version of Webber's Phantom to show how a fan would have handled it -- as of this writing, it's still on LiveJournal, and she can share the link if she wishes), I once cobbled together a Sweeney scriptment (I hesitate to call it a screenplay because I didn't flesh it out nearly as much as you did your Phantom) that reflected what I would have done with the film. Honestly? It really wasn't too far off the mark from what Burton did in many places, just keeping more of what worked onstage. (I think a closer treatment would have worked just fine -- and oddly, given his love for the movie, Sondheim seems to feel as much too, characterizing Sweeney in Vol. 1 of his collected lyrics, "Finishing the Hat," as a "movie for the stage.")
I always felt mentally that Sweeney was an episode of "When Classic Hollywood Musicals Go Bad," as moments in the score like 'No Place Like London' always sounded very Forties/Fifties MGM "golden age" to me. (Which is why one of the main things I loved about the Burton version is the full Hollywood treatment to the orchestrations.) I would have liked to have seen a film that reflected that aesthetic more than Burton's brain children, but that's a matter of taste.
i like sweeny todd too, its not a bad movie in my opinion
Sweeney Todd is my favorite movie ever and I've seen Edward Scissorhands, which is my second favorite movie. Why does everyone hate Helana Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, I thought she was great.
YEAH SAME
Contrast her performance with one like that of Patti LuPone or Angela Lansbury and you'll see why. Those actors bring far more energy and life to the role, matching the energy that her songs are supposed to be sang with (Worst Pies in London is the best example for this). Mrs. Lovett just does not work well as a sane reserved individual with pleasant vocals.
My introduction to Sweeney Todd was George Hearn's version, and my two drama teachers (who both love Sweeney and consider it their favorite musical, and who've never met) hate this movie. I tried to watch this movie and judge it on its own, but I couldn't get through it. After "A Little Priest", I bailed. I couldn't take how emotionally dead everyone sounded.
Is it wrong I enjoy this better than the theatre version simply because of the blood? Todd’s murder of the judge in this is truly a prose poem in red and I am here for it.
11:06. Fun fact: In early tryouts for Into the Woods, the wolf’s costume in Into the Woods originally had a full, anatomically correct penis and testicles. But due to shock and general distaste from audience members, it was removed.
One of my favorite parts of the broadway musical is when Toby actually "loses it" and kills Sweeney, so I was sad to not see that in the movie. Yes, he kills Sweeney in the movie, but that deeply chilling monologue that he recites at the end, just before the finale, is a really important part of the musical. It gives no real closure to Toby's character and keeps us guessing (Is he going to be charged for the murders? Will he go crazy after witnessing this traumatic event?). Maybe this is just because the kids are usually my favorite characters in musicals😂, I don't know.
Samantha Game I also love how Todd lifts his head in the Finale basically begging Tony to kill him. It adds something very romantic and dramatic to his death. These small little things are why I personally think Depp's Oscar nomination was completely justified.
It’s actually even more powerful with just letting the music speak for the finale after Todd murders Mrs. Lovett and plays out in silence after he finishes his reprise. Although had they had Toby recite the rhyme it would’ve have hurt, but I’m guessing Burton and the writers wanted quiet ti reign & it does work by letting the music and actors’ reactions speak for the sequence
I've heard Helena Bonham-Carter was specifically directed by Tim Burton to tone down Mrs. Lovett, to the point of trying not to move her eyebrows as she acted. If/how much of that is true, I don't know, but it may be more on the director than the actor.
When you realise the cameos chanting ‘Sweeney’ is a reference to like, all the ballads of Sweeney Todd.
I am glad that finally someone had good things to say about this film. I do agree with a lot of your points though. I was devastated when they cut down on A Little Priest and God that’s Good
Most of the changes can be justified with this being a movie and not a stage musical. A lot of the absurdity is toned down in favor of grittiness, and I think it works. This is one of my favorite films, and my prime example of why a musical adaptation to film must NEVER be too close to the stage version. Because there isn't a stage, there's a camera, and that changes a lot for what works and what doesn't.
I only seen the movie and I quite love it while I do agree Helena needed a bit more crazy and depp honesty was great in the role. It needed chorus though. It honestly is one of the greatest musicals all versions
I just realized that the pitchfork in the title card is a tuning fork.
It's a PITCH-fork! Geddit??
At the Peralli scene when she switched to the broadway version and said something was missing I thought she was going to say testicles and I was totally prepared to agree.
I never thought there were people who disliked Sweeney Todd, it's a great movie.
There are few films that have such a thick mood and great visual style.
It's also one of Depp's best roles.
I agree with most of your points but I think the ending missed an opportunity to add Toby's best part of dialogue. Which would be even creepier with him being a child. I understand time constraints and yada yada but in the time where Toby was awkwardly silent they could have at least added this part
"[...]Razor!
Razor! Cut, cut, cut [...] Pat him and prick him and mark
him with B, and put him in the oven for baby and me! *cuts his throat*"
It would better illustrate the damage that was done to this little boy by literally witnessing hell, as well as it would make the scene more impactful. Speaking as a person who should be blinded by nostalgia by first seeing the movie version as a child and after years deciding to watch the Original.
The Homer Simpson inner monolog joke is gold!
People don't like this movie? They wanted you to savage it? I thought it was generally well-liked. It's clear Burton was a fan of the source material and he didn't change enough to make it unrecognizable or fundamentally different outside of being a movie instead of a play.
Worm tail, Snape, Young Grindelwald & middle age Grindelwald in one movie! I'm gonna love this movie!
Burton's Sweeney Todd is pretty good in my opinion. It's very competently made and all the musical numbers have something visually going on. It's not just standing about and singing. It has a distinct look and feel to it and it knew what songs to cut and what plotpoints to keep in to stay true to the source material. I think Burton respected the source material greatly and made something that both captured his own style while also displaying the merits of the show.
I loved all the score changes but God that's good should have stayed the same.