Sherlock Holmes + Hollywood = Victorian Action hero
Posted on | December 27, 2009 | No Comments
“I deduce that this movie is elementary entertainment, my dear boy.”
Bad joke aside, Sherlock Holmes could have been an excellent action thriller…but it’s hampered by a slow second act and unoriginal third act, resulting in only an above average popcorn flick, despite Robert Downey Jr. starring in the title role and Jude Law as his sidekick Dr. John Watson.
A lot of gripes have been made that director Guy Ritchie‘s take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s literary detective is a bastardization, or Hollywoodization, an attempt to make Holmes into some sort of action superhero. And it’s partly true: the script by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg immediately establishes that this ain’t your great grandfather’s Sherlock Holmes. His intellect is matched only by his physical prowess.
But this might be a more faithful take on the character (I’ve never read any of the stories or novels myself, but apparently Holmes has always been a swordsman, boxer and martial artist) and is certainly more interesting than previous iterations of Holmes.
Sadly, Ritchie’s handling of the action scenes are something to be desired: While the gunplay and explosions are shown in clear (sometimes even slow-motion) angles, the hand-to-hand combat is shot in the very annoying, very trendy fashion of vomit-inducing handheld camera work and seizure-sparking rapid-fire editing. Shame, considering that Downey can actually fight (he practices Wing Chun). The villains are fairly stock and Holmes’ archnemesis, Moriarty, makes nothing more than a cameo.
Fortunately, Downey and Law are excellent as Holmes and Watson, so they save the movie from becoming a Hollywood-rapes-literary classic scenario. Their rapport is palpable and witty. Plus, their takes on their respective characters are smart and realistic.
A franchise this most certainly will be.
Tags: Dr. John Watson > Guy Ritchie > Jude Law > Robert Downey Jr. > Sherlock Holmes
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