Sweeney Todd

IT’S one of theatre’s darkest musicals and now it’s been given a Hollywood makeover by one of cinema’s darkest minds.
Tim Burton’s reworking of Sweeney Todd follows the director’s tradition of making macabre but visually stunning movies.
But fans of Burton will be shocked/delighted (delete as appropriate) to hear that this is a faithful adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical and all the original songs have found their way into the film.
Sweeney Todd is the tale of a young man called Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) who is living a content life with his wife and child in London until he is arrested by the jealous Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman).
Imprisoned for 15 years under a false charge, Barker finally returns to London to discover that his wife is dead and Turpin is holding his daughter Johanna under lock and key.

Opening a barber shop under his new moniker Sweeney Todd, Barker sets up a sinister partnership with Mrs Lovett (Burton’s wife Helena Bonham Carter) to wreak revenge on his tormentors.
This is quintessential Burton - bleak and gothic but with a touch of humour to balance out some quite frankly gruesome scenes.
Depp is on top form portraying Todd with a fiery-eyed intensity and also proves to be a very adequate singer!
Yet, this film may struggle to find its audience. It may be a bit too bloody and graphic for theatre fans while cinema buffs could be put off by the songs.
Hopefully, both parties will open their minds and give it a try because this is a refreshing change for the world of cinema.

I Am Legend

SWEEPING scenes of utter devastation in the backdrop of an abandoned New York City.
That’s the entrancing opening sequence in this apocalyptic thriller from director Francis Lawrence.
In an almost single-handed role, Will Smith plays Robert Neville, a former scientist and one of the last surviving humans three years after a virus obliterates the world.
Via flashbacks, you soon learn that the virus was initially intended as a cure for cancer but had horrific consequences. Ninety per cent of the population were killed, nine per cent have regressed into ferocious mutants and just a vulnerable one per cent were immune.
Now seemingly the last resident of New York, Robert’s only companion is his dog Sam and his fragile sanity is only maintained by watching old videos, keeping to a routine and trying to find a cure as his battle for survival rages on against the mutants.

Smith plays the flawed character well and in a variety of humourous yet tragic scenes he interacts with mannequins, just longing for human contact.
It’s also interesting to see the character forcibly lodged back into the food chain. With creatures roaming and food scarce, this Darwinian principle is best demonstated when Robert hunts a deer only to be beaten to the kill by a lioness.
This is the third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel following The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971).
And once again, it is a very interesting and horrifying take on what would happen if things all went wrong for humankind.