Robert Downey Jr. is one of the biggest actors on the planet.
He was the first to enter the MCU (we don’t talk about Hulk films here), he was
the first to complete his trilogy of solo films, He started the whole thing. He
is Iron man. I saw him play the role
for the first time in “The Avengers assemble”, and my first thoughts?
“Wow, that Robert Downey Jr chap does a great American
accent.”
Yeah. I know.
Before I saw a single Marvel film, I’d seen Downey Jr in the
Sherlock Holmes films.
And, to be perfectly honest, had I not seen the actor
before, I might have scornfully turned away from an action heavy superhero
film. But I didn’t, because I recognised Sherlock Holmes, and remembered liking
his acting before, so I decided to give it a go. To this day, Iron man is by
far my favourite MCU character. He is, after all, the reason I got into it in
the first place (although by a rather different route to the normal one, I
suspect).
So, of course I have a certain fondness for the films that
introduced me to the actor, who introduced me to the character, who introduced
me to the film that began my love of the MCU.
But now, I’m going to have to put all that aside, in order
to give a fair and balanced review of two of the films I least love to hate (if
that makes any sense). This is Sherlock Holmes, and Sherlock Holmes, the game
of shadows, starring RDJ and someone with a real British accent (Jude Law.
Please tell me his accent is real…?)
The super intelligent superhero…..
no, sorry, Iron man. Wait!
So, let’s start with the lead character himself. Actually,
there’s a lot to love about the representation of Sherlock Holmes here. At
least, unlike some adaptations, it is clear that he is a gentleman, albeit a highly
eccentric one.
This Holmes also has a flair for the dramatic, although… might
I suggest that this is taken a little too far? Like, pushing the newly wed Mrs
Watson out of a moving train with no prior explanation far? Like sending John a
tantalising clue that might suggest to him that he survived Reichenbach far? Or
maybe like painting yourself to look like the wall and shooting darts at your best
friend far?
And this really is the biggest problem with this Holmes. The
overall impression is great, but for every moment that makes me think “YES,
yes, this is Sherlock Holmes!” there
is one that makes me think…..
Um….
Nope.
Following Irene Adler through a market in discuise. YES!
Experimenting with flies and violin chords? Nope.
Drawing a pentagram to get inside the head of the evil Lord
Blackwood? YES!
Smashing his violin?
SMASHING HIS VIOLIN!?
So very, very NO!
But the acting is impeccable. I buy RDJ in the role
completely. The writing…. Maybe not so much. Some of the time.
One thing I do love about these films though is the
attention to detail in the way in which they show the workings of Holmes’ mind.
The slow motion, the careful, witty narration. I could watch an entire film
shot like that.
I especially love the Eine
Kleine fight. The music fitting perfectly with the action, the “be careful
with the face boys”…. But then I remember that Irene Adler, who supposedly loves
Sherlock in this version ordered it, and….
So yes, I love Sherlock here, but I feel like the writing
lets him down in places, relying too much on cool moments and clever scenes
rather than things that actually make sense…
Ugh. I so want to be able to give this Sherlock a good
score. But I’m afraid I can only give him seven flies out of ten. Maybe if they
make the third film he’ll be able to live up to his potential….
The faithful gambler…doctor….
Watson something. It’s Jude Law, playing Jude Law in the style of Jude Law:
This Watson… again, I think I love him, until I remember….
He lost the engagement ring he had brought for his wife. He’s
a gambler, his obsession teetering on the lines of addiction. He allows Holmes
to organise his Bachelors party.
So there are problems. But he is at least an active Watson,
he fights, he solves bits of the puzzle, he supplies useful information. And he’s
well-acted of course, because Jude Law. I like this Watson, I think he is kind,
gentlemanly, loving to Mary and Holmes, tolerant to Sherlock’s behaviour. He
also does his fair bit to keep Sherlock on track, and although drug taking is
not really tackled head on, I can definitely see this Watson violently criticising
Holmes’ drug use.
So yes, this Watson hits the right points. Unfortunately he
hits a few of the wrong ones too, and it’s frustrating to think that leaving
small things out of the script could have corrected this. As a result, this Watson
gets seven service revolvers out of ten.
The other people:
Um… there are other people in these films, right?
RDJ and Jude Law between them kind of overshadow everyone
else, but given a moment, they do start flooding back. There’s Mary, who I kind
of love. She and John are never overly romantic, but that fits nicely into the Victorian
times they live in, and she is wonderfully intolerant of Sherlock’s antics. She
is also folded into the plot well, not overshadowing, but fulfilling a vital
role. Quite why they made her look at a naked Stephen Fry/Mycroft I will never
understand, but…
Speaking of which, Fry is very Mycroft indeed. He has the slightly
patronising nature, he practically oozes intelligence and laziness. I get the feeling
that at any point, if he could stir himself he would be able to solve every problem
in its entirety. But that would require exertion, so…
Irene Adler is the other character who is given a prominent
role. Now, at some point I’m going to do a full analysis of the various portrayals
of this character, so I won’t go into it too much here. Suffice to say that…
no. Sorry. Irene Adler is not the kind of person who starts working with Moriarty.
Not the kind of person to set hired goons on her boyfriend. Not the kind of person
to be in a relationship with Sherlock Holmes. Why does everyone feel the need
to mess with this character? Because this, this is NOT Irene Adler. I will
restrain myself from ranting further here, but rest assured, the day when I
will release my rage about the misrepresentation of this character will come.
One character they did get right was Moriarty. And I loved
him. The professor, the gentle, prominent member of society who is so
completely above suspicion. And yet, he is ruthless. He is, at times, desperate.
He takes this battle with Holmes seriously, personally. He gets his hands
dirty. I love the way his plotting escalated as well, from murders, assassinations
and theft to trying to start a war. It’s amazing to see a plan of this scale
being enacted, and even more satisfying to see it fail.
The other villain is… well… Lord Blackwood. The magician/sorcerer/conspirator
who tries to use conjuring tricks to bring down the government of a nation. He’s…
kind of forgettable. Creepy, yes, but… my problem is that knowing Holmes, I know
that the supernatural isn’t an answer. Therefore, from the beginning I was
looking for ways for the strange things that happened to be completely logical
and explicable. I doubt I was the only one. Still, the villain didn’t really
matter too much here. This was the first film, a chance for RDJ and Jude Law to
play their characters. And the plan was OK, not too predictable.
So, overall… I suppose I give a five out of ten for this
merry bunch. Part of the problem is that they are often not given enough time
to get to know them. Perhaps with a bit more time I could love them more, but….
Well. Third film. If it happens.
The overall effect:
As I’ve already said, I love these films. All the same, I can’t
help but feel that they’re a guilty pleasure, rather than actually being
amazing. I want them to be good so badly, but they’re just… Ah! It’s hard for
me to say, but….
They’re not as good as I think they are.
You happy now?
But I enjoy them a lot, I’ve watched them a few times, I
probably will again.
There’s nothing that really upsets me about these films.
Yes, they take a more “action” angle rather than dealing with any crimes as
such….but the cinematography, the acting, the music… I don’t care.
Look, I love Holmes, and I think that certain things should
be preserved. And this, mostly, does. And where it makes changes, they’re… not
awful. Sometimes even good. Besides, without it I wouldn’t have a strange
longing for the sound of violins whenever I see Dr Strange and Iron man on
screen together…
And the memes, oh, the memes….
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