April 2008 DVD Reviews & Video Reviews

Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Dreamworks Video
DVD
ISBN# B0013D8LOK
Suggested Retail Price: $29.99 or as low as $9.74 from Amazon.com!

This dark tale is a triumphant achievement for director Tim Burton. This adaptation of the original Steven Sondheim musical expands the scope of the original stage play and adds a dose of graphic realism that the original could never hope to achieve. The recreation of 18th Century London from the Thames to the narrow lanes of Fleet Street provides a perfect stage for telling this famous story of a man wrongly imprisoned and widowed, who returns to the city that wronged him in order to wreak his revenge on the unjust and the unworthy by coldly slitting their throats one by one.

Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd, the mad barber who cuts a swath through the city of London, with a surprisingly deft touch in a role that could so easily be overplayed. Helena Bonham Carter plays Mrs. Lovett the pie-maker who makes good use of the by-products of her tenant's work as she desparately tries to make him forget his martyred wife. Alan Rickman plays the evil Judge Turpin and gives as able a performance as the script allows. Newcomer Ed Sanders is charming as the young boy Toby, a charming waif who escapes from the clutches of an abusive villain whom he shilled for in his travelling medicine show and helps out Mrs. Lovett in the shop.

Fans of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp will feel right at home, despite the fact that Sweeney Todd is a musical. I couldn't help but be reminded of an earlier Burton film, the animated feature "Corpse Bride" that also starred Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter because their characters in this film reminded me so much of those they played before both in their appearance and personality. This "Sweeney Todd" is very, VERY graphic in its depiction of the blood-spurting victims of the mad barber's blade, so be forewarned. But its a film that has already won several Golden Globe Awards and is a favorite to win even more when the Oscars roll around. There's a single DVD set available, or a two-disc special edition that includes interviews with all of the primary participants, as well as the venerable Steven Sondheim, and a history of the story of Sweeney Todd. Many people will wonder why anyone would be interested in a movie like this one. The answer is simply that at its core, its the compelling human story of a good and decent man who was driven mad by the loss of his wife and daughter and all at the hands of an arrogant and ruthless judge, and for whom fate ultimately seemed to have his life in its crosshairs.

Elizabeth - The Golden Age

Universal Studios
DVD
ISBN# B000ZOXDFA
Suggested Retail Price: $29.98 or as low as $15.99 from Amazon.com!

The sequel to 1998's "Elizabeth", "The Golden Age" tells the tail of the evolution of young Queen Elizabeth from a figurehead to a true leader. We see an Elizabeth filled with self-doubt as she deals with the political pressures to get married and produce an heir, and insurrection by Catholics led by her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, which leads to the ultimate test of her rule - war with Spain. The country is in upheaval as Catholics rebel against the pressures to join The Church of England.

Cate Blanchett is once again magnificent as Elizabeth. She is regal, quick-witted, gentle, and inspirational. Clive Owen turns in an admirable performance as Sir Walter Raleigh, the privateer and adventurer who brings back gifts from the New World and promises of riches if Elizabeth will permit him to establish a colony. He's handsome and carries off the role of swashbuckler with confidence. It's tempting to compare him to Errol Flynn, of course, but ultimately unfair to Owen. Geoffrey Rush is his charismatic self in the role of Sir Francis Walsingham, the queen's advisor. Director Shekhar Kapur makes a fine film here that's filled with romance and splendor, despite the fact that the ending dragged on for about 10 minutes longer than needed. It's an amazing story of a young woman who finds her way through self-doubt, sexism, war, and revolution to find the inner strength to rally her country to her side as they face the Spanish Armada.