Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sherlock Holmes
December 25, 2009
This film is either going to be the best or worse Christmas present EVER.
On the surface, I think Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant casting much like he was brilliant casting as Tony Stark. Something that gets uneven treatment in the adaptations (and was censored in the published works too) is Holmes was an addict. If his brain wasn't high from solving a puzzle he resorted to chemical means. The only thing I would worry about would be the accent, but from the trailer, those didn't sound too bad.
Action sequences: Okay, it's hard to tell some times with Doyle's writing style, but there were plenty of times that Holmes took physical action to trap the villain. I don't have my sources right in front of me, but I'm fairly certain that Watson lists boxing and fencing among Holmes strengths. And then there's a great moment in "The Speckled Band" where the villain tries to intimidate Holmes by bending a fireplace poker in front of him. Holmes straightens it out in front of Watson after the villain storms out.
And I have always had a soft spot for Irene Adler and Holmes and the non-canonical continuation of their relationship, which should be anything but platonic or domestic. The trailer raised my eyebrows hopefully for this.
I haven't bumbled around the mystery blogsphere to see what other people or grumbling about yet.
Read Free!
The BookWorm
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Now, I'm nowhere near the fan you are, but that trailer looks interesting to me. I'll definitely be seeing it.
Holmes has never excited me, but I'll wait and see. I was always more of a Poirot fan.
I take comfort in the fact that there are far more dedicated fans than me out there. I love the mysteries and the pastiches, but have no desire to take up the violin or smoke shag.
Now Jeremy Brett and that production of the entire series is my all-time favorite. That's what my mind happily supplies while reading. But I have to admit, I don't think they've tried an action-oriented Holmes movie since Young Sherlock Holmes. And that was a pretty awesome ride. Guy Ritchie is no Steven Spielberg, but he's got a good cast and if the script writer didn't throw in something stupid, I'm perfectly happy to enjoy it.
And it has to be something REALLY stupid. I adore Without a Clue after all. Oh, like Shanghai Knights, which was perfectly enjoyable for me up until they put Arthur Doyle in Scotland Yard. I bitched the whole ride home, once the movie said "oh yeah this is the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes." Had they just left that out, I would have been happy instead of shouting during the credits "Doyle was a doctor and he never worked for Scotland Yard!"
Post a Comment