Chris B’s Holiday Review part 2 - Sherlock Holmes
As we get into part 2 of my holiday movie reviews, I'm going to cover a movie I liked quite a bit - Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.
I wasn't sure whether I was going to like this one or not - period pieces, for me, can often be either paced so slow that I will be snoozing in the back, or very exciting but held down by a terrible romance or horrible plot you just know is going to ruin the film. That plus, period pieces are often dry and hard to watch.
This, I'm proud to say, was none of those things. It was fun, it was gorgeous to look at, and it was exciting! Every character leapt off the screen, every line had a little extra sauce to it, a little spice.
Since the trailers revealed nothing of the plot to you, I'll give a brief, non-spoiler synopsis - Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson start the film with a well filmed chase through London, hoofing it to get to some kind of cult ritual in an abandoned church. We see an unknown gorgeous woman lying in a diaphanous gown about to be sacrificed by someone in robes, as guards stand all around him. Another man in robes waits in the shadows.
Holmes and Watson meet up in the balcony of said church and exchange a quip about Holmes's new hat, then they realize that they have to stop the ritual. One action sequence later, the villain promises this isn't the last they'll see of him, and death is just the beginning. Then he's promptly hanged.
It's then when the real meat of the film starts - the bromance. Like Chuck and Morgan, Downey and Law begin to chew up every scene with their on-again, off-again arguing, yelling, and generally palling around. Each one brings something to the other, and Holmes is devastated because Watson is about to get married to a girl, and Sherlock is going to miss him. In this film, Holmes is depicted almost like a mildly autistic man. A bit out of touch with society, he can't act properly in public (which gets him doused with wine later), and just speaks his mind wherever he goes, does things however he likes, and is known for pissing people off because of it. His house is a mess, chaos everywhere that he insists is order, he's convinced his maid is going to poison him, and he just can't seem to get it together. Only Watson can put up with him, really, and help him, and somehow what they have just lights up the screen.
As if the upcoming nuptials weren't hard enough, shortly after he and Watson fight, an old enemy of Holmes comes to pay a visit, Irene Adler. Watson says to Holmes, "I think the only reason you even like her is because she's the only woman who's ever beaten you." She's trying to get Holmes to help her find some missing man, but Sherlock immediately knows her plan is going to be much more tiered, layered than that. He plays along well enough, cutely hiding her picture on his desk from her view, and then follows her outside to see who she's meeting.
Enter my one problem with this film - Moriarty. He never shows his face. He never steps on screen, and yet he's manipulating the plot from the get-go. There's no payoff, and infact, the end of the script only mentions him as a kind of setup for a sequel movie which I doubt they even knew they'd get. A note to film-writers - always try to tie up your important plot threads inside the movie, not dangle a sequel you might not ever make.
It's then revealed that the hanged man is, in fact, alive! The locals are convinced he's the undead, and he certainly has enough tricks up his sleeve to make them believe so. The rest of the film is Sherlock working out how Irene Adler plays into this diabolical plot, what the 'undead' man is planning, how he rose from the dead, and if there's something supernatural to all of this.
It's quite a ride to behold as well, with action, mystery, bromance, romance, and lots of punching. Holmes in this movie is a pugelist, so intelligent and savvy that he can disable a huge man with a sequence of only four hits, all of which you see planned in his head. There are plenty of twists along the way, and a lot of explosions, which of course, I like.
Rachel McAdams is ferociously sexy in this movie, confident, intelligent, and moving with a purpose. Nothing like you see her in Time Traveller's Wife, all intellect, boldness, and saucy dialogue. She plays the role to a "T" and makes you want her as badly as Sherlock does. I wished the movie had more of her in it.
I cannot say enough about Downey and Law. I normally hate Jude Law, he comes off as arrogant, unapproachable, egocentric and just a jerk, but he played Watson brilliantly. And of course, as most of you know, I'm a huge fan of Iron Man, so it comes as no surprise that I thought Downey's performance as Holmes was brilliant. I also liked Ritchie's interpretation of Holmes as a bit of a crazy person, it suits someone so observant that he should be so clueless about normal human interactions.
The villains were ... okay. They were well done, but never seemed to want to step out and really shine, especially compared to the brilliance of Downey and Law and McAdams, you would think they would've risen to the occasion, but they were mute and almost passive.
The action, though, the action was incredible. Especially the last sequence, which I won't spoil, was excellent to watch and brought out the best in our three main characters.
The passion and joy brought to this film by everyone involved was the polar opposite of Avatar. Where Avatar felt cold and distanced, almost like a documentary, this movie felt warm and inviting, and worked hard to pull you in and keep you in.
I highly recommend everyone who has the cash to go see this. It's worth it.
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