Sherlock Holmes, the action star
Who knew Sherlock Holmes was an action star? I always pictured Holmes as a sort of snooty, but relaxed, older guy. good thing for “Sherlock Holmes” it wasn’t me behind the camera. Guy Ritchie has that title. Yeah, the director of “Snatch,” “Lock, Stock, and two Smoking Barrels,” and “RocknRolla” is the guy they (whoever “they” is) chose to bring Sherlock Holmes to the big screen.
It seems an odd match, no?
Odd works sometimes, though. Andre Agassi and a hair piece – odd match. that worked out okay. I’m not sure Ritchie’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes is quite as pretty to watch as Agassi was (especially after he lost the fake hair) on the tennis court, but once you get used to the stylized slow motion Ritchie is infatuated with… it’s at least tolerable.
Odd might actually be the best word to describe the plot that writers Michael Robert Johnson and Anthony Peckham created for “Sherlock Holmes” as well. The bad guys are involved with the supernatural and black magic. The opening moments of “Holmes” feature the movie’s villain, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), about to murder a young woman by having her stab herself. She’s under his spell, or something. Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) stop him in the nick of time, of course. it is an odd beginning, though.
And it is just the start of the oddness. Blackwood is hanged; Blackwood comes back from the dead; Holmes and Watson track him down. Again. and again. how are they going to beat someone with black magic on his side, though? I actually wondered how Holmes and Watson would pull it off. I could tell you, but that would ruin the movie for you. what I can say without playing spoiler is that Ritchie and company do a good job of staying true to the character of Sherlock Holmes in at least one aspect: everything is explained.
I was even going to give the movie a pass on one plot point. The fiancée (it sounds less obnoxious if I say “the” instead of “my” doesn’t it?) leaned over and asked toward the end of the movie how Blackwood was able to come back from the dead. I mumbled something along the lines of, “He…uh, he probably had… (clear throat),” and then I just trailed off. I had nothing. Luckily the movie did.
That was always part of the appeal of Sherlock Holmes, right? He figures it all out, sure. but he shows and tells you just how he pulled it off. In Guy Ritchie’s world that includes having Holmes tell us in a voice over exactly how he’s about to break the ribs and jaw of a much bigger opponent in hand-to-hand combat. Odd, I know. Thankfully, it also includes explaining just how clever all the plot twists were and just how brilliant Holmes is.
The problem with “Holmes” is actually quite simple, and hardly unique. At the risk of sounding like a broken record: it’s too long. Ritchie might have been a bit lost from time to time without the seedy London underworld and its plethora of characters to explore; whatever the reason, “Holmes” drags every now and then.
Downey Jr. is perfect. Law is a very good complimentary number two. In fact, if Ritchie helms the sure-to-come sequel, my main hope is that he’ll feature the pseudo-man-crush relationship between Holmes and Watson more. that probably would have helped the slow spots in this one.
I’m still a little unsure about how I feel about “Sherlock Holmes.” I guess you could say I still feel a bit… odd.
Sherlock Holmes, the action star
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