Julie and Tal have been kind enough to allow me to be the default reviewer of any movie musical trailers, which is both a good and a bad idea. On the one hand, I am a musical theater freak (geek, nerd, loser, etc.) so I definitely have a passion for any movie musical coming out. On the other hand, I’m liable to give every one a SEE IT review without even caring how good the trailer actually looks.

Luckily, the trailer for Sweeney Todd looks absolutely fantastic, so my SEE IT review is completely justified. My only complaint about it is the very thing I’m looking forward to the most…the fact that it’s a musical. There isn’t a whole lot of singing going on in the trailer, so I have to wonder if someone who knew nothing about this show would even be aware of all the singing they’re in store for. A big concern for many of the fans of the stage production has been the casting. Sure, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are amazing, but can they sing? I’m still not sure. But I’m sure as hell going to be at the movie theater opening weekend to find out.

For the uninitiated, Sweeney Todd is indeed a musical, composed by Stephen Sondheim, and it was originally staged on Broadway in 1979. It tells the tale of Benjamin Barker, a well-liked London-based barber whose life is destroyed by the corrupt magistrate, Judge Turpin, who lusts after Barker’s wife. Barker is arrested under false pretenses and exiled for 15 years. Upon his return, he learns that his wife is dead and Turpin has named himself the adoptive father of Barker’s daughter (and would prefer to be more than a father to her, if you know what I mean). Hell-bent on getting the revenge he deserves, Barker adopts a dark and sinister alternate persona; Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. He opens up a barber shop above the pie shop of the questionable baker, Mrs. Lovett, where he offers “the closest shave in town”. So close, in fact, that you may wind up with your throat slit and your body disposed of in a most unusual way. Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett become partners in crime and eagerly await the day when Judge Turpin will cross their murderous path.

Clearly, this is not your typical musical. There are no gangs dancing in the streets and the hills are definitely not alive with the sound of music. Sweeney Todd is probably one of the blackest and goriest musicals ever created. Which is why I think Tim Burton was a perfect choice to direct the film version. Johnny Depp was an interesting choice for Sweeney, but his collaborations with Burton have never let me down before. I think Helena Bonham Carter looks a bit too young to be Mrs. Lovett (whose supposed to be middle-aged, and not a pretty middle-aged), but again, her work with Burton has yet to disappoint. Alan Rickman is Judge Turpin, and has he ever been a wrong choice in anything he’s done? No, he hasn’t. Don’t even try to argue with me, I’ll just stick my fingers in my ears and pretend I can’t hear you.

I said it before, but here it is again. SEE IT. Even if you’re a musicals-hater, give it a chance. This is definitely not your grandmother’s kind of musical (it got an ‘R’ rating, after all).

Oh, and for the record, there’s a movie version of Mamma Mia! being filmed now for release next summer, and I’m going to tell you now to go see that one, too.

Sweeney Todd is rated R and opens December 21 (Official site)