Quite frankly, after all the rave reviews I was expecting more out of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. It seemed a little over-long; it wasn't as clever or as funny as my favorite Ritchie films (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch); I often couldn't understand what Robert Downey Jr. was saying in his British-accented mumbling; and it was slow in spots, which surprised me. The movie did stay true to some of Holmes's iconic traits - the disguises, the ahead-of-its-time forensic science, the inscrutable logic, the disheveled residence, the pipe-smoking and arrogant manner; it only alluded to his drug-use (being a PG-13 movie and all) by having Watson (Jude Law, pretty good here altho' much more manly and prone to fisticuffs than the original) look with disapproval over possible drug paraphernalia, as well as having Holmes wake up woozy on several occasions. The actual story doesn't matter all that much, but it involves possible black magic, secret societies and Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams, slightly annoying) playing a double agent in the employ of an unseen Moriarty.
I'll give it a rating of okay to middling good, I guess. On the plus side, Mr. Mouse did manage to stay awake for the entire 120 minutes of the movie, and that's saying something.
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4 hours ago
You need to catch the new BBC series of "Sherlock" if you haven't already. Season 1 is on Netflix (which I don't think you have, right?) and Season 2 is airing in the US in May. The S2 finale airs tonight on the BBC and through geek magic I should have it by tomorrow. I loved all of Season 1. Ep 1 of S2 was sublime. Ep 2 was disappointing, relatively speaking. Can't wait for Ep 3. Benedict Cumberbatch is awesome as Holmes. I've rewatched Season 1 many times. You have to love a series that makes Irene Adler as a dominatrix. :)
ReplyDeleteThe BBC's Sherlock is in my queue - I'm a DVD through the mail girl, not a streamer (total frickin' Luddite) - and I'm planning to watch it soon. Did you hear that Benedict Cumberbatch (Best. Name. Ever.) is going to be the villain in the next Star Trek movie?
ReplyDeleteNice review of the movie. I liked the movie as well, though it is not the most faithful adaptation of the canon.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried the Russian adaptation with Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes.
Cheers!
I've never even heard of the Russian adaptation ... will have to look it up!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for Season 3 of the series to be released. Everything about this series is pure Sherlock Holmes from start to finish. I am extremely disappointed that CBS is trying to make its own version of Sherlock. I think this version has been the best Sherlock Holmes series to date and nothing else can replace this version by BBC. The reason this series is one of the best because everything about it is pure Sherlock Holmes, the cast, set, crimes, and protagonists. You can always have a crime shows like Law & Order, CSI or something like that which can be really good, but you can only have one Sherlock Holmes. You cannot compare Sherlock to other criminal stories because Sherlock is the grandfather to all of them.
ReplyDeleteI have Series 1 of the BBC's Sherlock now sitting on my coffee table, waiting to be watched. So looking forward to it!
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