This is my favourite, if not the best, team up between Depp and director Tim Burton. What a great story and what a way to tell it by having Depp as the demon barber.

First, to get the bad out of the way. The movie could have been 15 minutes shorter. I know that doesn’t sound much but at certain instances, it just felt too draggy. The songs and lyrics have been scaled down, but certain songs could have been cut shorter still.

And there was one song by Helena Bonham Carter fantasizing about what life could have been with Todd, where everything turned bright and colourful. It just clashed with the whole dark and grey setting of the movie and felt very out of place and unnecessary. But this is coming from someone who has never watched the original musical before.

The singing would have been another issue, had not been the wonderful direction of Burton and the cinematography of the movie. The camera zooms in and out, making you forget the vocal qualities as the lyrics and music told the story instead.

But don’t get me wrong, the singing was never appalling. Far from it. Depp has a certain quality when he hit the higher notes that sounded very contemporary and very impressive. Bonham Carter did sound weak but she has never claimed to be a singer. Still a job well done.

The songs were already great pieces in their own right. But in the movie they were delivered with class as well. Even Sacha Baron Cohen, and I never thought I’d say this, was respectable. But all the credit should go to Burton. After all, he did make Depp and Bonham Carter sing and brought out another best in them.

No one can play dark characters opposite Depp as well as Bonham Carter can. And here she complements him as if she was born to. Her performance was heartbreaking right till the end.

All other actors deserve praises too. They contributed greatly to the success of the movie. But most of all, it is Depp who still can’t seem to do any wrong. He is the most magnetic and versatile contemporary actor, and definitely the most fun to watch.

This movie has set the bar for the rest to follow for the rest of the year.

Rating: 8 / 10

(all images from imdb.com)