The movie's dark story is told in a washed out gray-filled London where the dirty masses are tough to look at, and the high-society members, while more clean, still have a gruff look about them. Visually, Sweeney Todd has a very unique look since the previously mentioned gray, toned-down style really gives off an oppressed feel, and when combined with the film's music and lyrics, you can't help but feel like you've been to some grimy city underbelly and need to take a shower. The only scene that is a stark contrast to this feeling is Mrs. Lovett's song, "Down By the Sea" where she, Toby and Sweeney are at the beach on a bright sunny day (of course, this is all part of a personal fantasy of hers).
If you haven't had the chance to see Sweeney Todd yet, then be prepared for a tale as dark and grimy as the movie's visual style. Returning home after breaking out of prison for many years, barber Benjamin Barker (who now goes by the name of Sweeney Todd and is played excellently by Johnny Depp) returns to London to find that his wife is dead and his daughter was taken as a ward by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), the man who falsely convicted and sentenced him just to get him out of the way. The only person from his old life that seems to still be around is the owner of the meat-pie bakery that was under Barker's barbershop, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter).
When she realizes that Todd is actually Barker, she tells him the story of his loved ones and decides to work with him to get his revenge on Turpin and Turpin's toady, Beadle (Timothy Spall). The plan takes them to a street-corner barber (played by Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat and Da Ali G Show fame), so that he may prove the new barber known as Sweeney Todd is actually the best around (all in the hopes of having the Judge show up under Todd's straight-razor). In a competition of shaving, Todd proves he is far better than this side-show spectacle, but when Pirelli (Cohen) realizes that Todd is actually Barker, he threatens to reveal the man's identity unless he turns over a lion's share of the profits, to which Todd replies with a swift slash to Pirelli's neck, and starts Sweeney's decent into becoming "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."
The characters of Todd and Lovett play off of each other really well as Mrs. Lovett's distorted view of justice and revenge causes Sweeney to not just go after Turpin in a fit of rage that would probably have left his kill count at two, but hone his skills on anyone he doesn't feel is worth living (which is a surprisingly large number). Meanwhile, Mrs. Lovett's Meat-Pies becomes a booming shop since the quality of meat in the establishment has skyrocketed, but Lovett's motivation isn't money, she is trying to win the heart of the single-minded Sweeney.
As a side story that becomes a major part of the movie's conclusion, Johanna (Jayne Wisener), Todd's daughter whom is under the care of Turpin, has fallen in love with the sailor, Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), that rescued Todd, and when Todd realizes the girl Anthony has been talking about is none other than his daughter, the details of his plan start to fall in line.
Needless to say, the music in Sweeney Todd is really good since it is a film adaptation of a Broadway production. Every actor sings his or her own songs (as opposed to voice doubles), including both Depp and Carter who both have wonderful voices, even if they didn't know it before this movie (there is a featurette that talks about the training they had to go through). Some of my favorite songs include "A Little Priest" where Mrs. Lovett lays out her plans for the bodies and "The Worst Pies in London" that talks about Mrs. Lovett's shop and how "times is hard."
There are a slew of special features that not only talk about the creation of this film, but also the original mythology of Sweeney Todd, the music, a photo gallery shown to several songs and a discussion about creating the blood-filled heads that Depp had to slash at the neck. While there isn't really anything new in the special feature department when comparing it to the standard DVD release, this is one of those movies that is worth getting on Blu-ray because of the enhanced visual and audio capabilities and not just because there are other cool features.
Basically, I believe Sweeney Todd is a must see (but definitely not for kids), and if you have the opportunity to check it out with high-definition video and uncompressed surround sound, then that is the way to go, but if you haven't made the jump to HD yet, look into the DVD version.
