Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes
Jan. 2nd, 2010 12:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theoldwolfSo here I am sitting at home minding my own business when I get a txt from a girl I know. Hqiz, it's a darn shame I'm 37 yeas older than she is... she's the daughter of a good friend who was looking for an escape from a boring evening with old fogies, and I'm tickled that she thought to give me a buzz - I think she knows a case of puer æternum when she sees one.
She had seen Avatar, so our choices were Sherlock and the Frog Princess thingie. We chose Sherlock, and I'm glad we did.
I'm actually in a poor position to critically review this film, because I've never {to my eternal shame and discredit) read one of Doyle's stories in print. On the other hand, I have Basil Rathbone's portrayal to use as a standard. And on the gripping hand, I remain relatively unspoiled because I've heard no other opinions about the show.
This ain't your granddaddy's Baker Street - but what a romp: at first I almost felt as if I were watching "Wild Wild West". Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are superb, and play against each other to delightful effect. The other performances were not as strong, in my opinion, but it may have been what they were given to work with - certainly nobody turned in a bad job in any sense of the word.
Parts of the plot seemed a bit contrived to me - all the emphasis on black magic seemed a bit out of phase with what I had come to expect from a Holmes plot. That said, it worked well, especially by the time the show was over and Holmes had deduced everything with his characteristic accuracy. On its own, the tale was riveting, and there were enough twists to keep it from being predictable. Good effects overall, with a couple of pretty tense moments, and more than a handful of really creepy ones.
This is a different Holmes than we're used to seeing, and yet - from what little I know - a more honestly portrayed one. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and look forward to the sequel(s) for which they left wide a gaping doorway at the end.
Overall Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
She had seen Avatar, so our choices were Sherlock and the Frog Princess thingie. We chose Sherlock, and I'm glad we did.
I'm actually in a poor position to critically review this film, because I've never {to my eternal shame and discredit) read one of Doyle's stories in print. On the other hand, I have Basil Rathbone's portrayal to use as a standard. And on the gripping hand, I remain relatively unspoiled because I've heard no other opinions about the show.
This ain't your granddaddy's Baker Street - but what a romp: at first I almost felt as if I were watching "Wild Wild West". Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are superb, and play against each other to delightful effect. The other performances were not as strong, in my opinion, but it may have been what they were given to work with - certainly nobody turned in a bad job in any sense of the word.
Parts of the plot seemed a bit contrived to me - all the emphasis on black magic seemed a bit out of phase with what I had come to expect from a Holmes plot. That said, it worked well, especially by the time the show was over and Holmes had deduced everything with his characteristic accuracy. On its own, the tale was riveting, and there were enough twists to keep it from being predictable. Good effects overall, with a couple of pretty tense moments, and more than a handful of really creepy ones.
This is a different Holmes than we're used to seeing, and yet - from what little I know - a more honestly portrayed one. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and look forward to the sequel(s) for which they left wide a gaping doorway at the end.
Overall Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-02 02:09 pm (UTC)http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2009/12/quickly-watson-get-your-service.html
LawDog is worth a read. His pollytics annoy me, but he's a helluva story teller. He's the one with the tale of the commando gecko that I posted for Marmoe. Look for his blog on the pink gorilla suit. ;)
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Date: 2010-01-02 06:17 pm (UTC)I saw this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075194/) when it first came out, I seem to recall it was a respectable movie for its time. I'd like to see it again, to see how it stands up.
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Date: 2010-01-02 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 06:33 am (UTC)