A mild-mannered barber turns into a bloodthirsty vigilante when he is wrongfully jailed for fifteen years and loses his wife and daughter. The plot sounds too close to The Count of Monte Cristo for comfort, but the similarities soon end. While The Count gives us some good fencing, Todd offers blood, revenge, and cannibalism.

By trade, the only musical I can stand is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. But I cannot resist the siren call of Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter. So I sit through the two hour film adaptation of the Broadway musical.

I agree Sweeney Todd deserves the slew of nominations and wins for Best Actor/Actress, Best Movie, Best Art Direction, etc. Tim Burton has a gift breathing life into the darkest tales, making them vivid and haunting stories. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter work well together to create magic on screen.

But it is a sad day when a story with so much potential and such a great cast is almost painful to watch. Perhaps I will never truly enjoy musicals. And no amount Burton genius will change that. But I believe Sweeney Todd would be better if not for the singing.