Sherlock Holmes
Just as "Star Trek" months before it, Sherlock Holmes was been reinvented for a 21st century audience. When I found out that Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were going to be Holmes and Dr. Watson, I didn’t like the decision because I liked the stereotypical characteristics of these two heroes. When I saw the trailer, I felt like the movie was going to be more of an action story and less of a detective story. That further disappointed me but upon seeing the film, I was impressed by how fresh it was while still remaining true to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. The most successful elements of this movie are its design, acting, editing and musical score. The movie catches your attention at the start and if you blink, you might miss an important clue that will be pointed out later on.
When we think of London in the 19th century, at least the London of Sherlock Holmes, we tend to think of it as a lot cleaner than director Guy Richie’s film portrays. Instead, we see earthy colours and this is due to a new approach. In past portrayals, Holmes and Watson seem to solve crimes in a smoking lounge or amongst the rich and powerful of the city. In Richie’s film, we do see this but Holmes spends most of the movie in the rougher part of town where this particular crime has been carried out. The Oscar nominated art direction of the film has a lot of grey and other colours tend to be low in value and saturation. When we do see a high color value, it has a purpose like the roses that Irene carries or the bright colors that she wears. Irene seems to always be accompanied by colours that are high in value when compared to what we see in other parts of the film. This makes her stand out and emphasizes her attractiveness. The design of this film follows the Holmes canon but also brings something else to the plate that an audience hasn’t seen before or something that they have forgotten about.
Robert Downey Jr. has earned my respect. In “Iron Man”, he portrayed well a man whose priorities and values change while still retaining his charming, egotistical personality. I have not see "Tropic Thunder" but what I have seen in the trailer is enough to convince me that he deserved his Oscar nomination. As mentioned earlier, I felt that Robert Downey Jr. playing Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t work. I was expecting to see Tony Stark in the entire film but I was mistaken. Downey’s accent alone was enough to differentiate between his work on “Iron Man” and this film. He also more than pulled off a convincing detective. I believed Sherlock was smart, odd and a fighter at the same time. There was no phoniness in Robert Downey Jr.’s performance. He was funny and yet credible. In his acceptance speech of his Golden Globe for this performance, he said that "'Avatar’ would have taken (“Sherlock Holmes”) to the cleaners” if he hadn’t been cast as Holmes and it is so true. As with Jude Law, his reinvention of Dr. Watson is successful. Who says that Watson needs to be overweight and only a sidekick? We as an audience buy into this new Watson as a doctor and a soldier whereas before we were just used to the doctor who used to treat soldiers. The relationship between Holmes and Watson as brothers instead of just partners is also much more entertaining.
As an editor, I tend to like non-linear scenes and in “Sherlock Holmes” they are all so entertaining. I love the scenes that are dubbed by Richie as “Holmes Vision”. The slow motion and sound are well done. They are entertaining because we see just how much Holmes’ intellect assists him in fighting and winning. Also, the flashbacks are well done for story purposes. We saw something earlier in the film for example that we either didn’t understand or that we had dismissed as unimportant. Because of the flashbacks during Holmes’ speech, we come to understand everything. The scene where Holmes follows Irene through the circus is my favorite because Holmes even fooled me with his disguise. The flashback is even more entertaining than it should be because it is not placed immediately following the original scene but rather in the middle of an exchange between Holmes and Watson a few minutes later so as to be seen in the context of their conversation. Also this gives time for the audience to think of the carriage incident between Moriarty and the bum on the street as only an introduction to a mysterious fellow who is controlling Irene. This editing decision creates a more entertaining experience when we realize that it really was Holmes incognito investigating. The editing in this film creates storytelling fun and that is something I value a lot.
I wish to address a few miscellaneous views on “Sherlock Holmes” next. First off, Hans Zimmer’s Oscar nominated score is amazing. It is one of my all time favorites. When the movie opens, I felt like I was listening to something I would fully expect to hear in a 19th century English pub. The piano and fiddle create the perfect mood throughout the whole movie and not just in the notes they play but mostly by the way they sound. It is better music than we heard in “Avatar” by far but the score from “Up” was understandably too powerful to complete with in the Oscar race. Sometimes Zimmer’s music can sound all the same in every movie but every once in a while, as with the Joker’s theme in “The Dark Knight”, something unique is heard and appreciated even if just subconsciously. I felt the story and screenplay were well done. You had a great balance of wit, adventure, story twists and humor. I like one man after the boxing match who checks his wager slip as if he is so stunned at the end result that he can not remember who he bet on. One of the best things the story did for me was that I believed that Blackwood was magical up until the finale and this is a credit to the film’s story. Another great thing about the screenplay was that at the climax of the film, Holmes reveals the mystery behind Blackwood’s “magic”. It was a very “Sherlock Holmes”-like element of storytelling. Also at the very end, there is even a “There is just one thing I don’t understand..” scene that we see in a lot of detective stories. In this case, we learn how Blackwood survived his hanging and how he fooled the doctor. I loved how Moriarty was introduced in this film and how a sequel is proposed. I knew about the character of Moriarty before I saw the film but it wasn’t until Holmes says “Professor Moriarty” that I figured out exactly who this mysterious figure was. With just his last name as mentioned by Irene, I didn’t make the connection. This kind of ending proved that I was completely wrong in my presumptions about the film before I saw it. I would finally like to point out something I have hinted at earlier. It is unfortunate that “Sherlock Holmes” was released around the same time as “Avatar”. “Holmes” deserved a larger audience while it was in the theaters but the revolutionary 3D found in Avatar was too powerful to compete with. It is sad how most of the public will go nuts over the film with groundbreaking visual effects & borrowed storyline and forget the movie down the hall with a better story.
The musical score, editing, acting and design are very enjoyable in this film and they help reinvent Sherlock Holmes while still staying true to much of Doyle’s work. I went in expecting an action piece but came out having enjoyed an intellectual, humorous, exciting story. I hope that Robert Downey Jr. wins an Oscar some day. The sequel turned out alright thankfully.
4.5 Stars