If the hero of Guy Ritchie’s new movie were called Nick Carter, Sexton Blake or Richard Hannay, it would rate as super festive season entertainment. It’s up to an ingenious, two-fisted detective, his stalwart sidekick and a femme fatale with mixed motives to save the day – after jolly good punch-ups, spectacular explosions, startling deductive speeches and a duel on the still-unfinished upper tier of the new Tower Bridge. He goes to the gallows, but returns to life and continues his seemingly-supernatural reign of terror, which is supposed to culminate in a terrorist atrocity (involving a new-fangled chemical weapon) that will strike at the heart of the British Empire. Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), a dastardly Victorian villain with a Hitler haircut and pantomime King Rat teeth (and dress sense), is apprehended just as he is about to sacrifice a maiden in a Masonic ritual under London. It’s a movie about two guys who know their stuff, and can’t stop until they figure out the mystery.My reviews/notes on Guy Ritchie’s Holmes films. Law, too, makes a great case for Watson being an educated man of science instead of fatty comic relief.īoth of the actors bring a great utilitarian feel to the characters, a feel that hits for the movie as a whole.ĭon’t walk into Sherlock Holmes expecting a stuffy period piece or an action movie (well, for the most part). He’s still got that Tony Stark charisma but his primary motive is to solve the case, and charming anyone seems a distant second interest. Downey avoids looking like the friendly and playful magical douche that he comes off as in the fairly awful posters. Maybe I was just in a very stupid mood when I saw the film, but I couldn’t see an explanation coming the entire time, even though I was looking for all of the typical tip-offs that litter today’s movies. ![]() To retell the plot would be challenging – it’s a series of events that are hard to understand as a whole, until Sherlock comes in at the end and makes sense of every small detail. I might let these minor infractions by if they were more exciting, but as far as being an action movie, Holmes is fairly by the numbers. And the climax takes place on the not-so-subtle set piece of an under-construction Tower Bridge. It is nothing terribly over the top, but he does employ multiple slow-motion takes of a single explosion. Unfortunately, the adaptation’s authentic feel derails in the third act. It’s not that movies shouldn’t look pristine, but it’s great to change it up and see Holmes in a dirty, utilitarian style that feels real (and, as a guy that got nauseous during The Hurt Locker, it’s great to see Ritchie do it without having to rely on steadicam.) It’s a great breath of fresh air from every other tent pole released today, from the good ( Avatar) to the thoroughly crappy ( Transformers 2). ![]() It’s apparent from the get go that Ritchie’s not interested in giving us a straight-up entertainment ride – instead he creates a grimy 19th Century London, with filthy brown rooms shown through dirty cinematography, almost with the vibe of an early 70s New Hollywood film. romp of charisma and smartassery (I have to admit, I was worried Downey would be reprising his super-likable characters from Iron Man and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in this titular role.) Instead it is, quite genuinely, an old-school mystery movie. ![]() While it’s always more entertaining to see a jolly fat man in the movies than the new Holmes‘ version, the slim but adept (and to be fair, pretty strong in his own right) Watson, played by Jude Law, is just one example that proves the changes made in Ritchie’s Holmes work pretty well.īut it’s not all shoot-’em-ups and drug runs like you’d expect from Ritchie. The Sherlock Holmes we’ve come to know is the one with that ridiculous deerstalker hat, perpetually staring through a magnifying glass and walking alongside an amusingly obese Watson. Many have worried it would be all flash and dazzle, a fear that wouldn’t be totally unjustified considering the quick-cut editing and matter-of-factness dialogue that Ritchie’s filmography has been host to.īut now that it’s out, it turns out we have nothing to worry about. Everyone’s been making a fuss about the new Sherlock Holmes movie from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels English crime filmmaker Guy Ritchie and how it’s suposed to be a different animal from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective stories that are ingrained in pop culture.
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