Writing a review for Sweeney Todd - the Demon Barber of Fleet Street could be summed up in a simple formula and that is: bloody + musical = wonderful. Directed by Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd is a barber starred by Johnny Depp who lost his family to the corrupt Judge Turpin after he was sentenced for 15 years exile for a he didn’t commit.
After his exile, Sweeney Todd comes back to London with a vengeance desiring to kill the judge but ended up slitting the throats of anyone he desires using a straight blade which he uses for shaving. As if that wasn’t gruesome enough, his lover / friend Mrs. Lovett covers for Sweeney’s crimes by butchering the murdered and baking them into meat pies selling them to unsuspecting customers and oh how they loved her meat pies.
Set the story aside and you’ll still love the movie as it is also a musical. The lyrics and the music are all so wonderful that I heard myself humming inside the movie house. Only a few phrases were said without music. It’s not the “Sound of Music” type of music but something sounding eerie, sad, funny and lovely.
What about the characters???
- Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd once again did a great performance. Didn’t know he could sing and act that well.
- Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin made a great performance but one thing I noticed which I did like was Judge Turpin’s accent and the emphasis of words. He was so Professor Snape.
- Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett was so psychotic you’ll love her in the movie plus empathize with her feelings for Sweeney
- Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford looks almost identical to his Harry Potter character Peter Pettigrew. He was so able to portray that image of being a loyal henchman to Judge Turpin yet cannot be trusted by the rest of the world.
The rest of the cast also did well and just like Corpse Bride, this one is definitely another Tim Burton gory but lovely legacy. Watch it, read it, you’ll definitely love it.
People are dying of cancer but someone found a cure. People gets the cure and are totally healed of cancer BUT…
I Am Legend is about such a cure and its deadly side effect. Cancer is gone from the face of the planet and the human race is next in line toward extinction. A new disease spreads… millions die, a few survive, and there are those who are in between - alive but no longer human. Lt. Col. Robert Neville, M.D. (Will Smith) is one among many scientists tasked to fine a cure for the new disease and he’s running out of time. He and his dog are the only ones left in New York - there’s no other human left alive.
Yes, this is another twist to what I call the “Zombie Genre” but I have to say that Francis Lawrence did a great job in transforming Richard Matheson’s 1954 science fiction novel into a 2008 movie. Watch the movie and read the book.
I was so excited to watch it the first time I saw the Bee Movie in movie trailers but I have to admit that after watching it, I am quite disappointed. The graphics and animation was nicely presented but the storyline is not that good.
The storyline is more or less about a perfect society - in this case, the society inside a beehive. Everything is just as they should be. No traffic jams, everything is timed to the last second, everybody loves to work, and the entire hive is happy. One bee however wishes to go out of the norm and so he did. The movie was interesting enough to keep me awake but not enough to really impress me. One thing I noticed though is that movie could be geared towards anti-racism. Not sure though but the thought came to me when the main character referred angrily to the “white men”.
Perhaps my disappointment arose due to the fact that I enter the movie theater with my “child brain” - you see, the story is not really for kids but for adults but you can take the kids with you nonetheless. One nice part was Bee Larry King and to that I did laugh.
I’ll give the movie a 3 out of 5 but I still recommend it for watching as it’s not really bad. And oh, it’ll come out on DVD this March 2008.
When I watched the first National Treasure movie starred by Nicolas Cage, all I could say was that’s a lot of treasure. The first movie was focused on “building” a name for the Gates family but the second movie - National Treasure: The Book of Secrets - is geared towards saving that name. I won’t go into much detail as I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
Ben Gates starred by Nicolas Cage gave a rather good performance and his sidekick Justin Bartha as Riley Poole was a perfect fit to the funny atmosphere that caught my attention and hooked me throughout the movie. Then there was Abigail Chase starred by Diane Kruger who added the ‘lovelife’ twist to the movie. This time, Ben’s father and mother are more involved in the treasure hunt as they do their best to save their family’s name.
The story line I believe is better than the first movie probably because it’s not just a mere treasure hunt and more of a family concern.
I give this movie a rating of 5 out of 5. Watch it. Bring the kids - it’s clean for them to watch.
