Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Everybody in this Sweeney Todd out-sings the guy whose name is on the poster. The role was built for a giant theater voice, and Johnny Depp sings it like the frontman of a moody garage band, thin even when the songs want thunder. Helena Bonham Carter makes Mrs. Lovett funny, needy and a little scary at once. Alan Rickman’s judge is pure slime in a powdered wig, and his duet with Depp is the tensest song in the movie. Sacha Baron Cohen pops in as a rival barber with a fake Italian accent and makes the most of his few scenes. Tim Burton drains London down to soot and gray, so when Mrs. Lovett daydreams about a seaside life in full color, with Todd sulking in a striped swimsuit, it’s the biggest laugh in the movie. The young lovers are so bland you’ll forget their names between songs. A 7.8 because the music and the villains carry a lead who mostly stares. $57.87 says you walk past a barbershop this week and decide your hair looks fine as is.

What works: Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen are all a blast, and the seaside daydream is a perfect burst of color in a gray movie.

What doesn’t: Depp’s thin singing voice can’t carry songs built for a powerhouse, and the young lovers are so bland they drag down every scene they’re in.

Who it’s for: Musical fans who like their songs dark and their villains in powdered wigs, as long as nobody in the room is little.