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

The first time I watched Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street I was 15 and I didn't like. The thing is that I didn't know it was a musical and I guess that spoiled the movie for me. Despite the fact that I can't stand Depp, I decided to give it another chance. 

The film tells the story of Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), a London barber whose life was destroyed when the powerful Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) fell for Barker's beautiful wife, Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly), and accused and exiled Barker for a crime he did not commit so that he could have her. Fifteen years later, Barker returns to London under the name of Sweeney Todd, seeking revenge against Turpin. In order to get his revenge, he sets up a barber shop and teams up with Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), the owner of a meat pie shop below his shop.

It could have been such an interesting revenge story but unfortunately, it was poorly executed and the result is a mess that doesn't make any sense --Barker has the right to avenge himself, but killing innocent people, and making meat pie with them? Nope, he does not have the right do to that--, that's predictable --I didn't remember the final twist but it didn't come as a surprise as I saw it coming-- and kept me interested only at the beginning, before the whole throat-slicing business.

The characters are pretty bad too as they are bland and uninteresting. And the performances, most of them, don't get any better. Barker/Todd is a tragic character, and you are supposed to feel sorry for him, hope that he gets his revenge. And yet, in part because of the way the character is written, in part because of Johnny Depp who, by the way, looks like Edward Scissorhands and does a pretty terrible job, you never feel sorry for him. Mrs. Lovett is a disgusting woman but at least Helena Bonham Carter gives a decent performance as she finds a nice balance between drama and comedy. Sasha Baron Cohen plays a character that is almost completely irrelevant to the story but it really looks like he's having fun. Alan Rickman easily steals the show as he gives yet another wonderful performance as the corrupt judge. He brings so much charm to the role, that you'll more likely end up rooting for his character than for Depp's.

Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures

Visually though, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street does not disappoint. Here, Burton created another of his stunning worlds. The cinematography is beautiful, the colours are fantastic, the costumes and makeup are incredible and so are the sets. There's a lot of blood and gore but they work with the story. At last, the songs, although some are too prolonged and they get irritating at times, aren't terrible.

Ocean's Eight (2018)

Ocean's Eleven is one of my favourite heist films ever. It's fun, entertaining, clever and the chemistry between the actors, it is simply wonderful. That's what I was hoping I would find in Ocean's Eight, the all-female spin-off of Ocean series. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good as the "original" (in case you didn't know, Soderberg's film is a remake of a 1960 film, also named Ocean's Eleven, starring Frank Sinatra).

Newly released from prison, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), the young sister of Danny Ocean, puts in motion her five-year-in-the-making plan: she is going to get Cartier to lend a $150 million diamond necklace to a vain actress, Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway), for the exclusive Met Gala where she is going to pluck it off the actress's neck. To pull off the heist, she assembles a team of talented women.

The plot is pretty much garbage. It's often implausible and it is filled with gigantic holes. What's worse though is that it's not exciting nor that entertaining as it lacks suspension and surprises --there are twists, but they couldn't get more predictable-- and because of that, it ends up being quite boring to follow. It is simply too straightforward for me to really enjoy it --I love my heist movie guys to struggle a little, but everything goes according to plan here.

Another problem with Ocean's Eight is that it lacks interesting characters. They are just heist movie stereotypes and as such, they have no depth whatsoever. We don't get their background stories --what is all that sexual tension between Sandra Bullock's Debbie and Cate Blanchett's Lou about?-- and they lack strong motivations.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Then there's the cast. Some of the women in the film can't even act --Rihanna and Mindy Kaling-- and most of those who can do a terrible job. I love Sandra Bullock and the chemistry she has with Cate Blanchett is amazing, but she is kind of a boring lead. Anna Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter do a pretty good job though, respectively as the vain actress and her quirky designer. Carter stole the scene every time she was on screen for me. James Corden is pretty good too. He basically plays himself only with another name --he's not an actor, after all-- but he is the one, the only one, who delivers the humour in the final part of the film.

Despite the poor writing and the mediocre to say the least acting, Ocean's Eight doesn't qualify as the worst film of the year. Although the humour is flat at times, there are several humorous moments that will keep you interested, and to watch the heist being pulled off was entertaining despite the lack of tension.