The genius of Helvetica is that it's styled, but subtle. It "gets out of the way," but not entirely. The common assertion about Helvetica is that it's "clean" and unstylized. But actually, its cleanliness comes from the assertion of a certain style.
On a semi-related note, I highly recommend the documentary "Helvetica," as well as the books about the development of the font. I'm not a font wonk by any means, but I do enjoy design. Anyone with even a passing interest in the subject will get a kick out of the film.
What's funny about this is the changes are not only the typeface. The creator is also correcting proximity, alignment, etc. I'd argue those factors make a much bigger difference in the quality of a design than typeface choice.
Helvetica, in my opinion, is a fantastic utility. It gets out of the way, and only those who know to look for it notice it.