Being a lovely husband as he is, Hootie took me to the cinema to catch this movie (after much persuasion and bribery)... I've been wanting to watch this movie for the last 1 month (it's a musical hence Hootie wasn't really eager to watch). The RottenTomatoes gave it a 86% rating and I have to agree (for details of the review pls go to www.rottentomatoes.com). I enjoyed the movie even with much filtering by the Censorship Board... The story is full of blood, dark and depp (pardon my pun, but the issues brought forward in the movie is rather deep and as with all Tim Burton movies, the setting is rather dark and gloomy)...Synopsis of the movie: Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is a barber who is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. After his release years later (he was sent to prison for 15 years if I'm not mistaken), he change his identity to Sweeney Todd, opens up a new shop and plots revenge against the judge (Alan Rickman) who sent him behind bars. But, before he does, he practices his knife skills on unsuspecting customers who have their necks cut along with their hair. The bodies of his victims then fall into the possession of Sweeney's girlfriend, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who carves them into delicious meat pies that become the talk of the town.
Why was he put away in prison? Todd had a very beautiful wife which the Judge took fancy. The Judge was a pervert (pardon my language), that feeds on beautiful women. This was further iterate in the movie whereby the Judge kept Todd's daughter for himself. Upon being release from prison, Todd came back to London and went looking for his family, only to find that his wife had poisoned herself (she was raped by the Judge soon after Todd was sent to prison) and his daughter, now all grown up and kept by the Judge. With the help from Mrs Lovett (she was the landlord where Todd and family used to live), Todd finally got his revenge...
At the end of the movie, there was a twist to the plot. *Sorry, have to spoil the movie for you guys who haven't watched ST*. Yes, Todd's wife did try to kill herself but she was saved by Mrs Lovett. However, Mrs Lovett had other ulterior motives. Capital gain was incidental but Mrs Lovett was in love with Todd (so now you understand why she never told Todd about his wife). A few minutes before the story ends, Todd's supposedly dead wife came to his shop. Scared that his secret will be made known, he killed her. He later realised that it was his wife. He got so upset so he killed Mrs Lovett. And as he was holding his dead wife, his eyes filled with regret and he was slaughtered by his own razor knife.
When I came out from the movie, I kept thinking to myself... I could understand why Todd acted the way he did... Revenge is sweet... Never forgive, never forget... But like everything else in life, there is always a classic twist to our fate... Imagine if Todd took a step back, he would have found out that his wife is still alive and he wouldn't turned into the demon that he was... As for the supporting casts, take Mrs Lovett for instance, she didn't tell Todd that his wife is still alive because she was in love with Todd and she wanted Todd for herself...
I guess what I'm trying to say is that all of us will always have ulterior motives, something that we secretly want, need it be good or bad... What separates us all is the way we achieve them... One might argue that it is immorale to take advantage of others for your own good but the fact still remains, we are all guilty of such sin, one way or another...
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