Sherlock Holmes
Being a fan of Robert Downey, Jr., I really wanted to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Being a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it at all. The first issue I had was that Robert Downey, Jr. is no Sherlock Holmes. The second issue was that the previews make it seem like they are going well away from the source material, something that you just shouldn’t do with a classic that isn’t really broken. On the other hand, the same could be said about some of the best-loved Holmes movies. While Basil Rathbone was a perfect Holmes, Nigel Bruce‘s Watson was nothing like that of the stories. Furthermore, most of their movies were set in contemporary times rather than Victorian England. Can’t get much farther from the source material than that.
Luckily, my desire to see the movie beat out my apprehensions. RDJ isn’t a bad Holmes at all. He’s not quite the Holmes from the stories, to be sure. He’s a bit whimsical, I think, and not at all as dark when Holmes is in his bouts of depression between cases. It mostly works, but I’m sure more die-hard Holmes fans will be disappointed.
I’m not much of a fan of Jude Law, but he really fit into the role of Watson. Unlike the image of the bumbling sidekick, given us by Nigel Bruce, he is closer to the Watson we see in the stories, if a bit edgier. I have to say he’s my favorite Watson yet.
The major deviation from the source material is the action. There’s a good deal of it. Holmes and Watson get in one scrap after another, with the final fight scene between Holmes and the baddie taking place high above the Thames. Overall, it made the movie more fun.
Another big departure, one that I particularly like, was bringing Irene Adler into the story in combination with another central figure in Holmes’ career (no spoilers from me, so I won’t mention the name). Those new to the Holmes material might be led to believe that there’s a romantic history between Adler and Holmes. But those who know the material well will recognize the folder of information Holmes had collected on Adler, and the picture that he kept of her, as coming from A Scandal in Bohemia. When she goes through the folder and handles the picture, the message is that this is the first time they’ve seen each other since the events of that story, which is something very new indeed.
If you’re thinking of seeing this one, do so. It’s great fun. And the graphics are breathtaking. It seems very much like they went back in time and shot the thing in Victorian London. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the stories, though, you might want to skip it.