Then there’s the music. Let’s not forget that Sweeney Todd is a traditional musical in every sense, yet the use of regular actors (Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter, while able to carry a tune, are not professional singers) give the songs a vulnerability and style that singers cast in those roles would fail to bring. Even in a musical, it is best to cast good actors with interesting voices over great singers with mediocre acting abilities.

Sweeney Todd is definitely a step up for Burton. Here is a film where his rather offbeat ideas work. Whereas in a film like Mars Attacks! Burton’s cynicism comes off as glib, in the framework of a musical this sort of world view makes perfect sense. The flashback scenes where Sweeney was still the mild-mannered Benjamin Barker, filmed in muted color, show a Johnny Depp devoid of any charm or personality. This was definitely a choice, considering the actor. Obviously, Benjamin Barker only found a purpose in life when he became Sweeney. Mrs. Lovett, when trying to get Sweeney to forget about his need for vengeance and start a new life with her, points out that although he claims to want revenge for his dead wife, he doesn’t even remember what his wife looked like. This point is cemented at the film’s conclusion, when Sweeney is brought face to face with a past that is as distorted as his present.

Sweeney Todd also brings to mind Sleepy Hollow, one of Burton’s best films and another Johnny Depp collaboration. But while many of the headless horseman scenes from Sleepy Hollow come off as too dark (especially the one where a young child is decapitated) when compared with the rest of the film as a whole, in Sweeney Todd the violence, while still shocking and gory, does not detract from the film. On the contrary, it is the violence and the gore that balance Sweeney Todd and keep it from having the sort of fake stagey quality that befalls most musicals.

Sweeney Todd is a terrific film. It is an escape into a dark, bleak world only music can guide a viewer safely into. Hopefully this movie will remind future film directors that it is possible to create an original, interesting musical without having to resort to the latest trend of turning Vegas-style renditions of pop songs into theatrical releases. After all, the greatest hits of a generation do not a musical make. Remember the magic of old fashioned musicals? Sweeney Todd is one of those.