Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Because that novel isn't going to delay itself
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Holly
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Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by Holly » January 7th, 2010, 7:58 pm

i just saw Sherlock Holmes... and hated it. It's Sherlock Holmes as Batman with a Jokerized villain, fist-fighting in a steampunk London. Ugh, ugh, and triple ugh.

For me, a lot of the allure of the old Sherlock Holmes (the movies and the books) comes from the setting and the authentic British atmosphere... everything from the teacups to the realistic flowered carpet to the fog.

I can't imagine people who would enjoy this movie reading a real Sherlock Holmes story.

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by MedleyMisty » January 7th, 2010, 9:08 pm

I fell in love with Sherlock Holmes in sixth grade when I found a dramatized version of The Dying Detective in our literature textbook. I got The Complete Sherlock Holmes as a 13th birthday present and I read the stories many many times and imagined Holmesian fanfic in my head at night before going to sleep.

I liked the movie all right. It wasn't great art but it was all right. To put it in literature terms - it's no Jane Eyre but it's better than a Dan Brown novel. Maybe it's around the Georgia Nicholson books - an entertaining light fun read that doesn't make you gasp with its beauty but also doesn't make you beat your head against the wall with its stupidity.

It was far more canon than I thought it might be. Somehow I got the idea from the pre-release buzz that the villains were vampires. Don't ask me.

The Irene Adler schtick is old and I didn't like that bit, but at least they went for the Holmes/Watson UST. :)

But then I think we saw different things in the original stories. Personally the allure for me was that I identified with Holmes and I enjoyed the relationship between Holmes and Watson. And I could still identify with the movie Holmes and the Holmes/Watson relationship was a central feature of the movie. So for me it was all good. :)

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Terry Towery
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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by Terry Towery » January 7th, 2010, 9:57 pm

Wait a minute. Vampires are villains?

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by Mira » January 8th, 2010, 12:10 am

I seriously disliked this movie. I was bored and left halfway through. And I really like all of the leads. No idea what they were thinking.

Why not do a real Sherlock Holmes? It's a brilliant, time-enduring character. Flawed and fascinating.

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by marilyn peake » January 8th, 2010, 1:15 am

I didn't care for the SHERLOCK HOLMES movie either. Thought it was visually impressive, but seriously lacking in plot. I was tired, fell asleep about four times and still understood how the mystery was solved at the end of the movie! Interesting that it was directed by Guy Ritchie, Madonna's ex-husband.
Marilyn Peake

Novels: THE FISHERMAN’S SON TRILOGY and GODS IN THE MACHINE. Numerous short stories. Contributor to BOOK: THE SEQUEL. Editor of several additional books. Awards include Silver Award, 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by Holly » January 8th, 2010, 7:05 am

Mira wrote:I seriously disliked this movie. I was bored and left halfway through. And I really like all of the leads. No idea what they were thinking.

Why not do a real Sherlock Holmes? It's a brilliant, time-enduring character. Flawed and fascinating.

The nonstop, overly orchestrated action did me in, like the rolling hunks of junk that just missed all the characters and ended up in the harbor, to the bandsaw that stopped right at the woman's nose. Plus the Batman/Joker tricks -- the exploding gun, the steampunk gadget that was going to take out Parliament, etc. The cheery music throughout the film told you everything was going to be fine. The plot was the same old boring going-to-take-over-the-world (was that ever in a real Sherlock Holmes story?), plus we saw a creepy warehouse full of creepy moldy things (almost all action movies have a creepy warehouse... maybe it's the same place) and, of course, there was a serial killer. There's always a serial killer.

I went to see Sherlock because I hoped it would be in the style of a dark classic, moody, with authentic atmosphere, not so desperate to entertain. Downey would have been great in a movie like that.
Last edited by Holly on January 8th, 2010, 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by Hillsy » January 8th, 2010, 7:57 am

I've seen 1 trailer, and even from that I could tell immediately what was going to happen. It's a send up, a p*ss take. Course it was going to be trashy and comic book. I've not seen it, but if I ever do I'll be doing so with me tongue firmly in my cheek.

A more important question is why the constant stream of remakes, adaptations and biolgraphicals hitting the screens? ******Of the 52 weeks of the year, the holder of the US box office No.1 position was a "new" film less than half the time: 24/52! And that's only the ones I could pick out by eye, for all I know "I can do bad all by myself", "17 again" and "The Hangover" could all be based on books! Less than HALF!!!!!******

I mean we're lead to believe more and mroe books are being written, which infers there are more and more stoires out there being created. Why are none of them hitting our screens??????? Are all the potential screenwriters moving to novels instead?????? Or is it a greater indication of a zeitghiest hunting culture, propelled by the rampant pace of life and the millisecond information stream of the internet, that's completely rewritten how the basic flux of supply and demand occurs? Whether or not this is a bad thing, the music industry got tanked by it a few years ago, the cinema is going through the same thing now. Are books next on the horizon - or can you say "Vampires"?

I'm going to see Avatar tomorrow and, although it may not be great, although it may only be a graphic and optical showcase, at least it's original.
Last edited by Hillsy on January 8th, 2010, 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by Holly » January 8th, 2010, 8:19 am

Hillsy wrote: A more important question is why the constant stream of remakes, adaptations and biolgraphicals hitting the screens?
I don't know, but it's depressing. Big money, I guess. Remakes have built-in brand recognition.

The last movie I saw that I really loved was Master and Commander, and that was a loooong time ago (2003, I think). I'd never heard of the historical novels by Patrick O'Brian. The movie was largely ignored at the Academy Awards -- most of the awards went to Lord of the Rings. And while the Lord of the Rings movie was okay, it couldn't compare to the marvelous books.

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by CharleeVale » January 8th, 2010, 9:39 am

I guess I'll be the odd one out here, but I really enjoyed it. It saddens me a little that the made an action star out of him, but only a little. Here's my reasoning:

In the original stories Sherlock WAS proficient in several forms of marital art. So the action in the movie could have easily taken place. In general he didn't go looking for a fight, it was circumstantial. Also, the included the super quick thinking that was Sherlock Holmes' character. At the end I was just as blown away by all the clues I had missed as when I had read one of the stories. The only thing that was significantly changed was his love interest.

If you made an actual Sherlock Holmes plot into a movie...I understand that it would probably be kind of boring. Anyway, I really liked it!

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by RebeccaKnight » January 8th, 2010, 3:57 pm

For those who have seen it, is it true that Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are mere moments away from sweaty tongue wrestling throughout half the movie? That's what I heard, and (if true) may be reason enough for me to Netflix it later on ;).
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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by RebeccaKnight » January 8th, 2010, 3:58 pm

Or to better phrase the question, is there more or less sexual tension than the volleyball scene in Top Gun?
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Mira
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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by Mira » January 8th, 2010, 4:09 pm

Lol.

There was an underlying theme of a male friendship being changed by one member getting married. Whether they meant that to be sexual, I don't think they did.....RDJ was alittle ambiguous about it. But, frankly, I was still bored.

I do think there could be an argument that Sherlock Holmes was gay....Although I think Doyle presented Sherlock Holmes as asexual.

In terms of what some folks said above - I don't mind re-makes at all. I think digging into a work can give a fresh perspective. I could see RDJ doing an excellent Sherlock Holmes with all of his arrogant brilliance and fatal weaknesses.

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Re: Movie review: Sherlock Holmes

Post by RebeccaKnight » January 8th, 2010, 5:35 pm

Dang, just wishful thinking, then ;).
Mira wrote: I could see RDJ doing an excellent Sherlock Holmes with all of his arrogant brilliance and fatal weaknesses.
I could, too. I'm sad that it seemed to be so dull :(. I thought from the previews that it was definitely no Citizen Kane, but could at least be entertaining.
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