Spring Break
Depp cuts into the affairs of 'Fleet Street'
Christian Palmer
Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
The million-dollar question, of course, has always been whether Depp can carry a tune. Turns out he can sing just about as well as anyone else - like most viewers honestly paid their two bits to hear Captain Jack croon. It is mostly a visual experience, after all.
That potentially interesting subplots are set up but never pursued leaves the audience feeling like they want more. It turns out, though, that this abandonment of parallel events happens to play up the obsessive and demented nature of Todd's one-track mind, hell-bent on vengeance. The barber's pursuit of the judge may end in much bloodshed, but ultimately yields no comfort as this same narrow-mindedness prevents him from truly reclaiming the life from which he was taken so many years before.
While certainly a visual treat and definitely a refreshing combination of horror and hilarity, the sum of its parts fail to add up, and Sweeney Todd falls just short of leaving its viewers with a song in their hearts and a slash across their throats.
That potentially interesting subplots are set up but never pursued leaves the audience feeling like they want more. It turns out, though, that this abandonment of parallel events happens to play up the obsessive and demented nature of Todd's one-track mind, hell-bent on vengeance. The barber's pursuit of the judge may end in much bloodshed, but ultimately yields no comfort as this same narrow-mindedness prevents him from truly reclaiming the life from which he was taken so many years before.
While certainly a visual treat and definitely a refreshing combination of horror and hilarity, the sum of its parts fail to add up, and Sweeney Todd falls just short of leaving its viewers with a song in their hearts and a slash across their throats.
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