Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

It reviews better than it plays — admired more than it is enjoyed.

• “Depp is such a soulful presence he gives you a glimpse of this maniac's pain and pathos. Bonham Carter is extraordinary. She reinvents Mrs. Lovett from the inside out.”

  David Ansen, Newsweek · 100

• “Something close to a masterpiece, a work of extreme -- I am tempted to say evil -- genius.”

  A.O. Scott, The New York Times · 100

• “Burton brings his signature visual style, and a pair of stock players for his stars, into this film adaptation, but he wisely follows Sondheim's lead, letting the music and spirit of the original piece show the way.”

  Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club · 100

• “Admirers of Stephen Sondheim who have wondered whether a riveting movie would ever be made from one of his stage musicals can put aside their doubts and worries: Tim Burton has finally accomplished it in his ravishing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

  Peter Marks, Washington Post · 100

• “Helena Bonham Carter may be Burton's inamorata, but apart from that, she is perfectly cast, not as a vulgar fishwife type but as a petite beauty with dark, sad eyes and a pouting mouth and a persistent fantasy that she and the barber will someday settle by the seaside. Not bloody likely.”

  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times · 100