He trod a path that few have trod

It took me a while to get around to attending the tale of Sweeney Todd, but it's more interesting to note how freaking long it took anyone to make a movie of my favourite musical in the whole wide world. It's interesting, too, that when they did they cast hardly anyone who could actually sing.

Not all that much has been cut in terms of the plot, although some of the scenes between Judge Turpin and innocent Johanna and particularly between the young lovers Johanna and Anthony are missed for the relationships they establish (and the omitted "Kiss Me" lover's duet is very funny), but the meat of the matter is here.

And meat of course is the matter, in case you're not familiar with the story about the barber on a vengeful killing spree and the purveyor of meat pies downstairs who helps him dispose of the bodies in her patrons' bellies.

In stark contrast to the usual dynamic where accents fall away a bit when people are singing, Johnny Depp filters all his songs through a much thicker cockney accent than he uses while speaking the role. It interferes with his singing more than it adds, although at moments he almost sounds like he's channeling David Bowie. He has a fine intensity as Todd, although he still comes off as a bit cocky at moments that can only be carried off if he's grim and grave. (When he's lining up victims in the chilling song "Epiphany," there are a few false notes where he becomes just the Demon Barber of 21 Jump Street, as my friend put it.) Perfectly sinister as Judge Turpin, Alan Rickman sings just fine in their "Pretty Women" duet, which is funny because they've cut most of his character's songs elsewhere and replaced them with brand new scenes to establish Turpin's villainy.

Helena Bonham Carter is a terrific actress, and one I can't say I ever get tired of looking at (a prettier pair than Carter and Depp has never played the gruesome twosome), but hooboy, that girl can't sing a lick. The reviews calling her "thin-voiced" were understating the case. She's not the usual playful cockney matron Mrs. Lovett, but more canny, a little more grim, and the way she plays certain scenes like the "Not While I'm Around" song where their boy assistant seems to have caught on are a wonder to behold. Also the way some of her more playful songs like "A Little Priest" and "By the Sea" are filmed is delightful.

A number of songs have been cut, most notably the "attend the tale of Sweeney Todd" ensemble tunes that open and close the musical. In fact there's no ensemble singing whatsoever in the movie. Any lines from the crowd that usually pepper the songs have been cut, even in a song like "God That's Good" where the line in question is the title. It's easy to see why this was done, because the weak singers in the lead roles would be drowned out otherwise -- it's hard to make out what they're singing sometimes even when they're solo -- but it's a choice made at the expense of some of the intricate complexity of Stephen Sondheim's stunning score.

Much has been made of the fact that between Tim Burton's signature aesthetic (here a bit more sepia-toned than usual, which is terribly effective if more than a little goth) and Depp's pasty makeup and shellshocked stagger, when he lifts his straight-razors to the skies it's hard not to think of Edward Scissorhands. But it's just as hard to look at a villainous Rickman conferring with henchman Timothy Spall in Victorian garb and not think of the Harry Potter movies.

And then there's the blood. There's a lot of it, and that's as it should be. But it's very bright red, and the slightly cartoonish quality of it helps make all the gushing a bit more palatable. This is a musical, after all.

It's uneven at best, but every now and then something's done exactly right. The haunting "Johanna" duet between Sweeney and Anthony is choreographed precisely as directed in the original libretto, with slashed customers thunking down a trapdoor while Sweeney imagines comforting the daughter he never knew. When you know the musical as well as I do, a song like that is going to be packed with resonance no matter how well it's executed, but I'm also very protective of it and want it to be done right. And when for a brief shiny moment (as shiny as Mr. Todd's silver razors) all the pieces fall into place, it's sublime. Then I have to wince again as the next false note is sung, but those moments make it all the painful ones at least somewhat worthwhile.