Sweeney has garnered mostly positive reviews to date. Popular websites RottenTomatoes and Metacritic, which compile data on critical reception of films, report an overall positive critical reception of 88%. A sampling of reviews follows:

"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. Who knew Burton would have such an uncanny feel for how to film a musical?"

- David Ansen,
Newsweek

"Sweeney Todd is as much a horror film as a musical. It is also something close to a masterpiece. A work of extreme -- I am tempted to say evil -- genius. "

- A.O. Scott,
New York Times

"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... with a visual style informed by a truly cinematic feel for Grand Guignol."

- Peter Marks,
Washington Post

"The movie is so finely minced a mixture of Sondheim's original melodrama and Burton's signature spicing that it's difficult to think of any other filmmaker so naturally suited for the job."

- Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

"Tim Burton's scaled-down adaptation chooses style over substance. The result, however, is still a pretty enjoyable film."

- Carina Chocano,
Los Angeles Times

"This represents one happy instance of a film made by a director without stage experience that genuinely serves the intentions of the original piece."

- Todd McCarthy,
Variety