Sweeney Odd

i get the whole background about sweeney todd. i had to sing the musical in grade school, on a dingy stage that vaguely smelled like bad cafeteria food. i got the whole premise and how awesome the songs were, and still are.

but with the movie...it was GOOD, don't get me wrong. it was a blood bath, a dark romp through london and throat-slitting and cannibalism, but there was something...off about it. maybe it was watching johnny depp sing crookedly while he slit the throats, maybe it was the way the bodies crumpled to the floor and hearing their necks crack, maybe it was helena bonham carter stealing the whole show, i don't know.

something about combining that much murder in a movie with that much singing was off-putting. i didn't know whether to be scared of sweeney todd or just start singing along. and i don't think that disconnect between singing and violence is as obvious during the stage show, when the actors bleed red ribbon and the violence isn't so effective and terrifying. like i said, sweeney todd was GOOD --- but maybe it wasn't great because it's hard to reconcile a mad man brutally murdering everyone while he's making sure he hit that one note just right.