Tim Burton, in adapting Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd for the big screen, has done so "with a bravura visual style thrillingly in touch with the timelessly depraved delights of Grand Guignol," says the Washington Post. Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd will prove to be "the brilliant singing splatterfest that finally gives [Sondheim] a stab at cinematic immortality."
Tim Burton, in adapting Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd for the big screen, has done so "with a bravura visual style thrillingly in touch with the timelessly depraved delights of Grand Guignol," writes Washington Post staff writer Peter Marks in his review of the film.
What has often been often the most difficult aspect of transferring musical theatre to film—integrating music with dialog—has, in Sweeney, "been carried out with remarkable suppleness," says Marks, "so that the numbers seem, to a degree rarely experienced, an extension of character and plot."
Also separating Sweeney Todd from other musicals that have made their way to the big screen is its rather gruesome story. While this might have complicated the adaptation in less capable hands, thanks to Burton and his creative team, the audience is put "not in the province of chain-saw massacres, but of art ... It takes an actor of Depp's suaveness—and yes, musical grace—to fully pull this off."
Ultimately, Marks believes that Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd will prove to be "the brilliant singing splatterfest that finally gives [Sondheim] a stab at cinematic immortality."
To read the complete review, visit washingtonpost.com.
