Sherlock Holmes

U

utmck

500+ Posts
Saw it this past weekend and thought it was very good. Robert Downey Jr. might be the best actor of his generation.
 
I agree he is a great actor but for as long as I live, I will never forget the greatness of, "Julian, are you working for me tonight."
 
I was disappointed. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. My reasonings are thus:

Spoilers:





1: I dislike 'mysticism'. Despite how it turned out, I dislike mysticsm in movies.

2: I disliked how the viewer couldn't really figure out the clues along with Sherlock. Oh he paid off the guard
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A bunch of seemingly dead frogs = paralyzed?
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The crypt was made of sandstone
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Give us a friggen chance to figure something out along with the main characters!!

3: Why the cliffhanger? How about we see if this movie can stand on its own before making it a series?

4: Special effects have gone out of control.

5: The story itself. Whats the point of having tension between Sherlock and Watson? Why not make that a plot device in the second movie? I mean I got that they had a great history, and S calling out W's fiance was humorous, but give us the history to understand why these guys are so important to each other.

6: The explosion that Watson survived, please. Ridiculous. And why did Sherlock do the surgery? Weren't their doctors in the hospital? I mean I know Sherlock is smart, but wouldn't an experienced surgeon be at least as good if not better? Why did he do the surgery?
 
I saw it and while I agree with some of the points made above...I think it was still a good movie. Great acting by Robert Downey Jr. and a decent storyline.
 
I've been wanting to see the movie, but wasn't sure if having read the short stories and novellas would taint it for me. When I was a teen, my Dad gave me the complete works of Sherlock Holmes (4 novels + 56 short stories). I would read the SSs little by little, but I eventually finished the whole thing and really got into the stories and charachters. Is there anyone who has read the stories & seen the movie who can comment?
 
So not having read many Sherlock Holmes books, it was my impression that his mysteries were more murder-oriented, but the last two movies that came out about him (Young Sherlock Holmes and this one) were both about the occult. Did he deal with that very much in books?

Having said that, I did like the movie, and I was OK with the late revelation of the clues, largely because none of them were self-evident or would have led us to figure out who did it. They would have each required lengthy exposition and would have bogged the movie down IMO. I also liked the Holmes/Watson dynamic.
 
Thanks JoseyWales. My 13 yo son and I are going today.
BTW, great username. One of my favorite movies, and I have read the book as well (movie follows that book very closely).
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For those interested in the definitive Holmes, check out Jeremy Brett (sorry, Basil). Don't know if those PBS episodes are on DVD.
 
Thanks Perham. I missed seeing them. I'll look for the DVDs. I'll also give my own take on the movie after I see it today. Thanks all for the advice!
 
Excellent film. I've read many Holmes stories and really enjoyed it. There were often somewhat mystical underlying themes in Holmes stories, but remember the Victorian Age was the age of figures like Crowley and Blavatsky, so mysticism, theosophy, etc., were in vogue. It's not surprising that mysteries from that age might include a bit of a mystical bent. Also, I suspect that Ritchie expected viewers to bring in a little knowledge about Homes/Watson when they came to the movie, so probably figured they didn't need to explain much in the way of backstory (after all, we do have House, don't we?) between the two.

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Just got back from watching the film, and both my son and I liked it a lot. They definitely made Dr. Watson more active and even proactive than in the stories, but I understand why. It made the movie more "fun". I would recommend it. My only complaint was that in the first hour there were some slow spots that could have been edited down. The total time of 2 hr 14 min could have easily been edited out about 10-15 minutes. Still, awesome show.
 
Just saw it last night. I have read all the Holmes stories that I know about, but probably have missed one or two.

With that said, I loved this movie. There some liberties taken with some of the characters and the chronology but nothing out of character. Some attributes were just emphasized here or there. Story was good. Holmes observation skills were there. I thought the music fit with the London pubish music and the violin solos. Very well done and can't wait for any others. This was in essence a murder mystery on a grand scale. It was reminicent of The Speckled Band in a lot of ways.
 
I'm having my 13 yo son read some of the SS, and I think I may have to reread a few for myself as well. Most are very short. It's been so long since I've read them, it's hard to recall, but I think the movie was more similar to the classic SS "the Speckled Band" than the novel "The Hound of the Baskervilles".Usually Holmes was investigating a murder, so this was a bit different.

As a side note: I don't watch much TV except for Lost, but my wife will watch House. Like an idoit, I did not catch on that this was a modern day rip off of Holmes (cane, pipe, addiction, know-it-all) until I overheard a show where he gave his address as 221B Baker Street.
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I really enjoyed this movie. It was not completely true to the characters in Doyle's writings, but the screenwriters knew what they were doing. This movie, like the Last of the Mohicans. represents a rare instance when the movie truly is more entertaining than the book.
 
Pretty good movie with the exception of the typical Hollywood "Let's try and add tension by having a character implausibly survive a death where there is no possible reason for survival except that he's one of the main characters, and hope that the audience actually thinks he might really be dead even though they've seen 5,000 other movies already pull this lame trick" deal with Watson and the explosions.

Great portrayal of London. That was a dirty city. Easily one of the best movie industrial revolution era cities I can think of.
 
I was pissed that Avatar was sold out as I had some 11 yr olds with me. I was leery of taking somebody else's kid to a PG-13 movie. Took a chance with Sherlock Holmes. WIN!! It was great and no f-bombs or nekkid boobies.
 
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