(This is my first time writing a review, so it might be a little bad. Forgive me.)

If you don't know, I'm a huge musical theatre fan. I grew up on the original cast of Sweeney Todd. I knew it would probably never be a movie, as the story's just so out there.  I didn't think anyone would take the risk, but Warner Brothers did and here we are.

Sweeney Todd is also one of my favorite musicals (along with Company, Into the Woods and Assassins, if anyone's interested) and those opening notes of the ballad have always given me chills. As a fanboy, I'm upset that they didn't include the full "Ballad", but as a screenwriter, I can understand why they didn't.

The first few songs go by so fast. I think the stage show, with the small "Ballad"s during scene changes, helps the audience absorb the information.  But here, it's song, after song, after song. The end result is "Nice, but whatever." Then, during the second act, it drags a little bit, and the final act goes by so fast. I'm sure if I didn't know the story, I would've been lost from the get-go.

The singing is fantastic. Depp and Helena aren't trained singers, but they're so much in character, it's brilliant. I don't see them any other way. I think the weakest performer was Sascha. It didn't look like he was comfortable in the role. Or maybe holding back. I don't know. He only has two scenes, so it's okay. I thought the best one was Toby. His "Not While I'm Around" was haunting. Antony and Joanna are pretty much useless. Their story time's cut so much that we basically see only glimpses of them. They should've kept in "Kiss Me", at least.

It's bloody. Really, really, really bloody. I didn't expect it to be THAT bloody. After "A Little Priest", Sweeney slices and dices at least 6 victims, and sends them all down the shoot, where they fall on their necks. It's hilarious, and so fitting. The bloodiest scene, by far, is when Sweeney finally kills Turpin. It's an almost joyous scene. Sweeney's got so much pent up anger. He's barely raised his voice, but he lets it all out on Turpin's neck, sending blood everywhere. Sweeney's covered in his. His face, his arms, chest, and it even covered the window.

As for the songs themselves, my favorite is "A Little Priest". I love the way they did it. In the stage show, Sweeney and Lovett make up the Priest, and the fop, and everyone else, but here, they look out the window and there they are! i really liked that. It's an hilarious scene. "Joanna" is a great song, but it seems that it's the only thing Antony sings, and by the 2nd time he sings it, it's a little tiresome. I just wanted him to get over it. We know. Move on. Blah blah. It was weird to have "God, That's Good!" performed without the "God, That's Good!" lines. The ensemble doesn't sing at all.

I've never seen Toby, played by Edward Sanders, performed by a kid and I think it makes it more terrifying, especially the ending. Here's this little kid, put through so much already, and then to be part of this?!

The ending is cut and rushed. I think it ends a good 5 or 6 minutes too soon. It has a good final image, but there needed to be more. What happens to the three surviving characters? No mention of them.

I give it an 8.

This was a great barf bag movie, so disgustingly gross that its funny, i was laughing once the throat slitting started, the blood gushed out like it came from a fire hose, and it looks like red paint.  Borat has a funny cameo as a rival barber.  The music is catchy and the production is amazing, just to look at this film is a lot of fun.  Anyways this goes along with dead alive, evil dead 2 and the thing for a fun vomitorium type of film.