‘Tis the Season for me to…watch a bunch of movies at the theatre. It’s perfect- I get to hang out with the in-laws because they have all of this free time, but we don’t actually have to talk to each other (which tends to lead to unpleasantness). It’s bonding without all the messy “getting to know one another parts”.
For Christmas day, Hubby, FiL, and Baby Brother all went and watched Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is a movie that is loosely based on the series of novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They got some of the major characteristics right- Sherlock Holmes is an eccentric genius that can derive a lot of information based on tiny details (and an annoying coke-head between cases), Watson is a doctor and ex-military. Man of the lines from the movie were directly lifted from the books (I particularly like the “never have theories before facts, or one will undoubtedly twist the facts to support the theory), though not in the same context. But, Robert Downey’s portrayal seemed more martial than I remember Sherlock Holmes being, and Watson I always sort of pictured as a military man gone slightly to seed (not the sexy Jude Law character*).
The movie starts out with a chase scene, and Sherlock Holmes capturing an occultist called Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). Holmes and Watson go off and we learn that this is to be the last case that Holmes and Watson do together because Watson intends to be married to a nice girl named Mary (Kelly Reilly). Though Holmes never says it, directly, he does not seem to want Watson to move out and get married. The first time he meets Mary (Kelly Reilly) (under duress) he insults her by implying that she was a gold digger.
During this time, Lord Blackwood has managed to scare everyone in the prison- prisoners and guards; mainly due to his guard seemingly being struck by possession. Lord Blackwood’s last request is to see Sherlock Holmes, whom he tells that he will rise from the grave, and kill three more people, whom Holmes will be powerless to stop. Lord Blackwood is seemingly, and Watson is the attending physician to say he is dead.
Holmes, now thoroughly bored without a case to pursue, is busy doing coke and odd experiments with flies, gets a visit from one Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), who offers him a ton of money to find a missing person, a ginger midget. Watson comes by, and giving the audience a bit of back-story, tells us that Irene Adler is the only person who has managed to trick Holmes. Twice. Holmes decides to take the case.
Three days after the burial of Lord Blackwood, we find his coffin has been destroyed, and a witness said that Lord Blackwood had walked again. Inside the coffin is a ginger midget, the same that Holmes had been paid to find. Now Holmes’s new case is to find Lord Blackwood, and find out what his plan is (and stop him if necessary).**
It was a fun movie, and really, that’s the highest praise I can give it. The writing was fun, the directing was okay (it avoid “shaky cam” but not as much as I would like), the costumes and sets were amazing. If you like martial scenes (like Hubby and Co. did) you’ll really enjoy the martial scenes***. I was thrilled to see that McAdams not only had way more of an important role than the previews gave her credit for, she was also in way more clothes than the previews gave her credit for. Additionally, I was thrilled that McAdams did not attempt and English accent (Downing’s wasn’t actually too bad. Believable, at least to my ears.) This movie fails the Benhdel Test (and hard) and McAdams was the only one who really did anything in the movie, and even she was kind of flat, character-wise. But, as this movie was supposed to be an action flick set in Victoria England, I can’t really blame them too terrible much (individually, at least. It’s a different story on why do we get a million of these action flicks but only a handful that pass the Benhdel test?)
Prognosis- Nice popcorn flick, but get someone else to pay for the ticket (like we did) or rent it.
*Not that I’m complaining. I like sexy men in my movies too.
** I won’t give away any more. Seriously, this is just a fun ride to enjoy.
*** My tastes in martial scenes are more “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” than Bruce Lee- more art, less martial. Not a big fan of the sound of crunch bones or the sight of bright red blood.
With such a great basis -Conan Doyle was a splendid writer -it kind of boggles the mind that the film would be weak in that regard, but then, I don’t think authenticity mattered here. I mused on the whole Holmes/reinvention thing in a blog recently, and really, I don’t quite get the upset over the liberties. Then again, poor writing can’t be covered up with any amount of flashy action sequences or great costumes (or charming actors).
I thought the directing was excellent, actually. Guy Ritchie is wonderfully skilled at bringing out character visually—it’s the heart of every movie he’s directed (narrative rhythm, of course, is the spine).
At the end of the teaser, when Blackwell is caught and the photographer swarms in, Holmes raises his cane and blocks the shot. It had me giggling like a schoolgirl.
Also, this is one of the slashiest things I’ve seen in a long damn time. Seriously, guys. Just bone already.