Saturday, December 26, 2009
Holmes for the Holidays [TM]
Yesterday I hiked down to my local cineplex to enjoy my traditional holiday matinee. The film of choice was Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. As a long time fan of Doyle's detective fiction, the trailers had left a decidedly sour taste in my mouth with their tendency to emphasize Holmes as man of action (and Michael Bay style explosions) rather than the more cerebral hero from the original stories. That, along with the overly blatant romance between the traditionally asexual Sherlock and his occasional nemesis Irene Adler, left me uncertain whether or not I should even see the film in the first place.
But, I promised some colleagues that I wouldn't see Avatar (the other film under consideration) until after the New Year, and so it was, to steal an advertising slogan, Holmes for the holidays. (Hence the [TM] in this post's title.) It was, simultaneously, exactly what I expected and yet much more enjoyable than I anticipated. Granted, this was not Doyle's Holmes. But it was still a fun piece of popcorn entertainment. I particularly appreciated occasional shout-outs, in the form of quotations and references, to the original canon, even if it made its fair share of mistakes in the process.
For example:
1. Mycroft was mentioned, but the idea of him maintaining an estate in the countryside for social functions is unlikely given his reclusive nature as discussed in "The Greek Interpreter." Unless of course, he owns it but not for his own personal use.
2. A prominent scene early in the film shows Holmes deducing what he can about Watson's fiancee, Mary Morstan. But Holmes and Watson met Ms. Morstan during The Sign of the Four investigation. Her backstory should be known to both.
3. Without revealing too much about the movie's ending, I will merely state that a certain expert on the dynamics of an asteroid is introduced prior to Watson's initial discovery of the fact in the original text. (And I won't even get into the history of technology problems associated with his appearance...)
But: If you turned off your brain and just watched the movie, it was a lot of fun. Downey and Law are excellent as Holmes and Watson respectively, acting circles around their female costars. The use of internal monologues as Holmes incapacitates opponents in his various pugilistic endeavors is an effective narrative device and the special effects were on the whole well-handled. All in all, I imagine that this will likely earn itself a sequel in a few years, assuming that people are still interested in watching the Great Detective at work.
Perhaps I'll go see that on some future Christmas, just prior to getting my requisite order of Chinese food.
Yesterday I hiked down to my local cineplex to enjoy my traditional holiday matinee. The film of choice was Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. As a long time fan of Doyle's detective fiction, the trailers had left a decidedly sour taste in my mouth with their tendency to emphasize Holmes as man of action (and Michael Bay style explosions) rather than the more cerebral hero from the original stories. That, along with the overly blatant romance between the traditionally asexual Sherlock and his occasional nemesis Irene Adler, left me uncertain whether or not I should even see the film in the first place.
But, I promised some colleagues that I wouldn't see Avatar (the other film under consideration) until after the New Year, and so it was, to steal an advertising slogan, Holmes for the holidays. (Hence the [TM] in this post's title.) It was, simultaneously, exactly what I expected and yet much more enjoyable than I anticipated. Granted, this was not Doyle's Holmes. But it was still a fun piece of popcorn entertainment. I particularly appreciated occasional shout-outs, in the form of quotations and references, to the original canon, even if it made its fair share of mistakes in the process.
For example:
1. Mycroft was mentioned, but the idea of him maintaining an estate in the countryside for social functions is unlikely given his reclusive nature as discussed in "The Greek Interpreter." Unless of course, he owns it but not for his own personal use.
2. A prominent scene early in the film shows Holmes deducing what he can about Watson's fiancee, Mary Morstan. But Holmes and Watson met Ms. Morstan during The Sign of the Four investigation. Her backstory should be known to both.
3. Without revealing too much about the movie's ending, I will merely state that a certain expert on the dynamics of an asteroid is introduced prior to Watson's initial discovery of the fact in the original text. (And I won't even get into the history of technology problems associated with his appearance...)
But: If you turned off your brain and just watched the movie, it was a lot of fun. Downey and Law are excellent as Holmes and Watson respectively, acting circles around their female costars. The use of internal monologues as Holmes incapacitates opponents in his various pugilistic endeavors is an effective narrative device and the special effects were on the whole well-handled. All in all, I imagine that this will likely earn itself a sequel in a few years, assuming that people are still interested in watching the Great Detective at work.
Perhaps I'll go see that on some future Christmas, just prior to getting my requisite order of Chinese food.
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