I was absolutely thrilled by the film!
I have never seen a production of ST and didn't have any expectations and only a bare bones familiarity with the story.
Specifics in spoilers for those who don't want to know.
Spoiler:
First my 3 pieces of irritation:
Sasha Baron Cohen was waaaay over the top with his character. He completely distracted me from the film. I really dislike comedy that is lacking in any subtlety. I tend do hate most comedy Jim Carrey does for the same reason. There is a difinie line for me that was crossed with SBC. I was comparing his character in ST to John Tuturo in The Big Lebowski. Tuturo nailed the outlandish character without distracting from the film. That I find brilliant. But, when it is too much, it completely destroys the moment.
The boy that played Toby had a wonderful voice and, if this was really meant to be straight musical theater, I would probably have loved him. But, in this rendition of the film I felt he was out of place.
The third irritation was over quickly, but it scared me a bit at first. The opening credits are basically CGI and i get very tired of CGI quickly. It worked well for an opening sequence, but I was VERY grateful it didn't continue.
As for the other actors, I adored Depp in this role (although I couldn't help see shades of Scissorhands) and loved HBC. She is a very fine actress and watching her facial expressions throughout was amazing. Alan Rickman makes my heart beat almost as fast as Depp does. I'd be so up for a menage-a-trois with Alan Rickmand and John Malkovitch. Anyone care to arrange it?
Visually, it was almost perfect. Burton at his absolute best! The murky black and white with bits of red. So beautiful! And, such a nice contrast with the pretty "by the sea" song. (Where can I get a still of the brooding Johnny in the baithing suit, socks and shoes?) I did cover my eyes for a bit of throat slicing, but the landing post-ejector seat was the real horror part of the film.
I can't wait to see it again, then buy it on DVD so I can have a double feature of Sweeny Todd and Moulin Rouge. (New Years Eve 2008 anyone?)
Thanks for getting us all on board, MP. With the rate I've been seeing films lately, it was nice to see this one with a good group.