Johnny Depp is at his dark and brooding best in the lead role, managing to garner audience sympathy while still remaining frightening and intimidating throughout. Helena Bonham Carter adopts a funky cockney accent and gives a wonderfully warm and funny performance as Mrs. Lovett. Alan Rickman brilliantly personifies the evil judge, walking his patented fine line between pure evil and Britishness. While Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, steals a few scenes in a hilarious turn as Depp’s competition: a flamboyantly Italian barber.

The only weak links in the cast, and indeed the movie itself, are Jayne Wisener and Jamie Campbell Bowler who play Sweeney’s daughter and her love interest respectively. Their characters are meant to be the lone representations of pure good in an otherwise dark world, but sadly come off as irritatingly perfect and bland. Fortunately they have little screen time, so they do little harm overall.

Simply put, Sweeney Todd is a triumph for Tim Burton. The original play is so dark and bizarre that it could have easily could have failed with even a slight tonal shift. Fortunately, Burton connects perfectly with the material and deftly balances the musical and horrific elements with the skill of a master. The movie is remarkably faithful to the play (with the exception of a few deleted songs), yet still retains Burton's distinct directorial stamp. The gothic design, visual playfulness, and eccentric characters are vintage Burton and Sweeney Todd easily ranks amongst the filmmaker’s best work. It’s also one of the best movies of the year. Though not your conventional Christmas film by any means, this is certainly the best of the holiday lot. If nothing else, Sweeney Todd is sure to be the only movie you will ever see with brilliant musical sequences punctuated by graphic throat-slashings.