McSweeney's

Tim Burton's R-rated horror-musical-comedy "Sweeney Todd," staring Johnny Depp as a homicidal English barber bent on revenge, might just be the best of the latest crop of movies to hit theaters. It is certainly more entertaining and satisfying than the overhyped "Juno." And not surprisingly, it is the only movie to come out this season that I find truly embodies the spirit of the winter holidays.

You see, it is tradition for my extended family to congregate at my house every Christmas to eat, open presents, and watch explicit/gory films together. (Healthy, I know) Previous selections have included such beloved holiday masterpieces as "The Ghosts of Mars," "Road Warrior," "The Fist of the North Star," "Resident Evil," and "The Crow."

This is actually a less troubling state of affairs than it sounds. My cousins and I are usually the first to occupy the downstairs "home-theater" area, taking up all the available couch-space before any of our parents or older relatives have strayed from the appetizers upstairs. As a consequence, we have total control of the viewing selection for the evening. All of my first-cousins happen to be males, of the particular sort that celebrate fake violence. So I've understandably come to see fake blood-letting as just another way to spread the Christmas cheer...it helps the the color corresponds to less homicidal things like reindeer noses and holly berries.

More than this, I think that the overwhelming idea of all the nobler aspects that the holidays are supposed to be about; love, charity, grace, religious ceremonies- actually create something of a backlash in many people, even if they don't admit it outright. After a month of being exposed to these ideas several times a day by cute anthropomorphic animals, animated versions of traditionally inanimate objects like Snowmen, and garish covers of the same twenty old-ass songs, it's not difficult to see how some people could experience a desire to hurt things. This would certainly go some ways in explaining the appalling, discourteous behavior of many winter shoppers and, more frustratingly, drivers- but that's a whole different, timeworn topic that need not be repeated here.

Frankly, I kind of like seeing people go crazy around the holidays. I mean in principle I wish they didn't for everyone's sake, including their own (It's just not healthy to stand out in the freezing weather, hours bef0re the ass crack of dawn just to get into a fucking department store, especially now that we have this thing called the internet). But at the same time, I like seeing this more brutal side of America laid bare- it's seems somehow more authentic to me, people pushing and shoving each other to get some material crap that will likely be discarded in a few years or even returned a few days later. It's consumerism at it's most pure baby, the thing that has made the United States such an economic giant for so many years. It certainly seems more in-line with our everyday activities than showing up for one or two nights to "worship" at seasonally-overcrowded Christian church services.

And yes, coming back to the matter at hand, "Sweeney Todd," vividly explores the most despicable behaviors of human beings. Lust, exploitation, blackmail, corruption, and of course murder all swirl uninhibited through Burton's miserable, dark, vision of 19th-century London, singing and dancing to the tune of Sondheim's glorious music. We don't get too much outright criticism of consumerism, but when Bonham-Carter's Ms. Lovett character turns her once derelict dining establishment into a London hotspot by filling her meat-pies with human flesh, the irony is far from subtle.

Despite what you might have heard to the contrary, Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman, the three lead actors, are all very capable singers. In the opinion of this mostly theater illiterate-reviewer, they do justice to the Broadway material. Sondheim himself has said he completely trusted and enjoyed Burton's vision of his musical. I was most impressed, though, with the less-famous singer-actors in the supporting roles of Johanna, Toby, and Anthony, the sailor boy. Here's to a future with these burgeoning actors filling ever more prominent parts in quality films. Hopefully they will avoid some of the more embarrassing career choices that striking singer turned actress Emily Rossum has made since her turn as Christine in the most recent film adaptation of "The Phantom of the Opera."

"Sweeney Todd," is a rare kind of movie. A genre-bending exercise that wallows in the misery of the human condition while simultaneously making light of it, and both approaches work together seamlessly. Showtunes aside, it is unlike the majority of other cheesy horror-slashers in at least a few couple key departments. The most apparent; the fatalities themselves- the horrific, graphic murders in "Todd," are never played for laughs or fun.

Every time someone is killed in cold blood, the audience is almost sure to audibly wince. Even though the blood itself is bright and stylish, akin to "Sin City," the violence doesn't seem nearly as hyper-kinetic or casual as that film. We are always reminded of how terrible the act of killing is, usually during the unceremonious disposal of the bodies- as Todd tips back his adjusted barber's chair to dump his freshly killed customers headfirst into the basement two stories below him, their heads crashing loudly, sickly onto the ground. The horrific, cruel nature of unanticipated murder is not dwelled upon too much at any particular time, though. Instead we are just left with a series of profoundly disturbing images of a wronged human being wronging others...a point which leads into the next, and less obvious key difference...

Sweeney Todd himself, our enigmatic antihero. We are shown in flashbacks the reason for his bloodlust- his unrighteous imprisonment, the seizure of his beloved wife and daughter. We might even sympathize with his desire for vengeance, were not extended to include all of London, nay humanity itself. But even when we find out how truly warped Todd has become, targeting people who have nothing to do with his predicament, we are still rooting for him. This puts him in the same department as nearly every other horror icon- Mike Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger. Everyone watches the movies with those guys because they want to see them kill... especially because it is unjustified. But at the same time, we all want to see them die too- or at least be temporarily defeated at the conclusion of the film. Their murders cannot go unpunished. We need some sort of closure for the movie to be satisfying, some way to believe that evil cannot proceed uninterrupted for long. We applaud loudly when the cheerleader or the nerd or whichever weak surviving character gives it to the killer, because we want to see them get fucked up for what they've done.

And if you haven't seen the film, are unfamiliar with the musical and don't want the ending SPOILED. NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO STOP READING!!! (If you haven't already)


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When Todd is killed at the end of the film, we the viewers also welcome this. But it is not because we want to see him suffer for his crimes. No, in fact, quite the opposite. The death of Sweeney Todd is made oddly more satisfying and more touching than the deaths of similar repeat killers because it is the only escape from suffering possible for him. To continue living, most assuredly facing prison-time again if he doesn't flee, and always having the burden of the murder of his wife on his hands no matter what, is an awful fate for our avenging antihero, one that we cannot condone for him, despite his acts. Suicide, too, would seem like a cop-out, something that would not please him or us. No, Sweeney needs to die by the hand of another- released from the world that would otherwise have continued to fuck him over in an act of justice, and unintentional, morbid benevolence. And what are the holidays really about...if not benevolence?

In Sum: Awesome. If you are into Tim Burton's gothic sensibilities, you will thoroughly enjoy this. How many R-rated musicals are there? Not many....Go see it now!