New "Sherlock Holmes" movie exciting, reasonably Canonical

Dec. 5, 2009 | By John Rabe

<<September 2010 
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  


I am something of a Sherlock Holmes geek. Not as deeply involved as some, but I’m probably in the top percentile of all US citizens. I come by it honestly and by pedigree, my father, WT Rabe, having been a very active Sherlockian from at least the 1940s to his death in 1992.

So I was interested and a little worried about the upcoming movie "Sherlock Holmes," directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey, Jr., and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson. I was worried because Warner Brothers is hyping the movie thus:

In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous characters, Sherlock Holmes sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.

Great, another "League of Extrordinary Gentlemen"-type film with a senseless plot, a bombastic score, lots of guys with little round tinted glasses, young actors with bad accents playing British dressup, with luxurious fabrics abounding.

I saw a preview of “Sherlock Holmes” last night on the Warner Brothers lot.

Yes, the score and the sound design are bombastic. Note to Guy Ritchie:

Just because you have Dolby-9.11-Superrumble-Extrabada** doesn’t mean you have to crank the mid- and high-end on every door that closes and every locket that snaps shut. You might be surprised to learn that people – even kids today – can hear okay with the volume at 6 instead of 11, and since we can see the door closing, we can develop our own emotions about it without the sound design telling us what to feel about it. And the camerawork is far too busy. Again, I’m pretty sure kids can enjoy a 30-second scene without 90 cuts, ten zooms, and three flashbacks.

But as I wrote to my friend Peter Blau, “Black Peter” in the Baker Street Irregulars, probably the most prominent Sherlockian group (he’s 33rd from the left in this picture):

Dear Peter,

Overall, I was relieved and pleasantly surprised.

Both Holmes and Watson are rather more physical than is commonly understood from the Canon, and they spend a lot more time fighting baddies. But, one could say Watson was a former soldier in Doyle’s stories, and Holmes was an expert in "baritsu" and something of a boxer, so their being active is not illogical. Irene Adler is not quite the Victorian lady of the Canon ... since she is an accomplished kickboxer and thief. That said, I'm rather tired of the Victorian ladies who are always fainting or screaming and letting themselves get tied to railroad tracks while the men have all the fun. No ladies scream in this movie.

Inspector Lestrade is very nicely played by Eddie Marsan (the driver’s ed teacher in "Happy-Go-Lucky" and the evil dude in "Hancock"), and he’s much less the bumbler than Doyle depicts him.

Speaking of bumblers, other movies have already corrected Nigel Bruce’s moronic Watson …


…but Jude Law’s Watson is very nearly Holmes’ equal in most areas, and better in some. This is good because, as other commentators have pointed out, it makes no sense that a man like Holmes would hang out with the idiot that Doyle (and Bruce) make of Watson. In the new movie, Holmes and Watson have a very nice intimate relationship, much more like brothers than master and apprentice, which I also find refreshing.

The plot also takes some nice jabs at the Da Vinci Code movies, and there’s a very funny joke about a certain modern device.

For all the action and loud music, there are many nice subtleties in plot, script, acting, and the design of the film. To name just one, Her Majesty does not appear.

The only true blunder/liberty I spotted is that in the movie, Watson is engaged to Mary Morstan before Holmes meets her, when of course, in Doyle, they got engaged after a case Holmes solved.

Using the Leonard Maltin BOMB-4 stars scale, I'd give it 3.5 stars.

- John

(Check out John's weekly show Off-Ramp!)

Brideshead
9 months, 1 week ago

What did you think of Robert Downey Jr as Holmes? He hasn't convinced me; far from it, in fact. He seems like a very poor fit. In contrast I've no problem whatsoever with Law. He looks perfect as Watson in everything I've seen so far.

John Rabe
9 months ago

I think he was a very good Holmes in many ways, but not necessarily true to the Canon. He's not the right build, for one. That said, I think Jeremy Brett gave us enough accurate Holmeses for a lifetime, and Downey gave us a very thoughtful Holmes that is a logical leap from the Canon. Does this make sense?

Law is just as accurate/inaccurate as Watson, so there you have it.

It probably has to come down to whether the feel is right. It felt right to me.

Sure woulda been nice if they'd have done a short based on the Blue Carbuncle for Christmas.

Susan
9 months ago

Thanks to the ubiquitous Peter Blau, I stumbled onto your blog. This film sounds like Sherlock meets the Da Vinci Code. That reminds me of the Young Sherlock Holmes movie where Sherlock met Indiana Jones. We are well beyond the Victorian era. As Starrett said back in the Thirties, Moriarty would have been laughable in the age of the submachine gun and the "pineapple."
Somehow, I feel the Professor could have found something to do in this era. If they were going to make a costumer, though, I wish they had made one that made better use of the Canon.

BTW, I adored your father, although I did not get to know him for very long. I am the woman in brown in the first row of the BSI photo.

Doc Edwards
8 months, 4 weeks ago

Life forces so many changes on all of us so quickly nowadays that only a few bastions of refuge still remain where one can go and still feel the comforting reassurance of familiarity and the heartening stability of tradition; for me, a lonely refugee from the Present and a desperate escapee from the Future, Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes was the Grand Duke of my fight and cause. Warner Brothers would have to marshal almost supernatural forces to break through the hardened castle- rock that I have put in place around his identity and sacred memory as the inimitable Mr. Holmes.

Comments disabled after 14 days