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Apr. 26th, 2010 10:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mipeltajaSince I've been on a Sherlock Holmes kick lately, I decided to see the 2009 movie, which was good enough a movie, I guess, but just didn't feel like a Sherlock Holmes movie to me. :( Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind the plot or the action scenes, but the massive property damage felt out of place.
I've no issue with Watson's portrayal, and although I don't appreciate making Irene Adler into a career criminal, I have to admit that she kind of kicked ass too. Despite being made into a love interest. Again. The special effects were neat enough, too even though the animation of some CGI objects was a bit off to my eye, and even though lot of the showy explosions and whatnot felt gratuitous.
But the real problem for me was Holmes himself. Now, Downey acted well, but there's only so much he could do about a script that didn't do the character justice. And then there was his appearance. Holmes in the books has his eccentrities, but I just can't buy a Holmes who makes no effort to look presentable. Watson and Holmes in the film often seemed roughly equal in intellect, too, which just should not happen. Now, Watson's not the idiot he is commonly portrayed as, so his level of intellect in the film seemed appropriate enough; It was Holmes who seemed to have been dumbed down. Holmes is a kind of a Marty Stu. He's supposed to be so far above mere mortals in his mental capacity that anyone capable of outwitting him is quite extraordinary in their own right. It's the very core of his character. Not so here. He is outwitted entirely too frequently - granted, often by characters who are supposed to be his match, but even then with laughably simple methods.
Now, I admit, I've been watching the Granada series with Jeremy Brett recently, so it was virtually impossible for any other Holmes to meet my expectations with Brett's portrayal (and such portrayal!) so fresh in my mind, but given the limits placed upon him for this film, Downey could not have outdone the foggy recollection I have of Basil Rathbone's version.
I've no issue with Watson's portrayal, and although I don't appreciate making Irene Adler into a career criminal, I have to admit that she kind of kicked ass too. Despite being made into a love interest. Again. The special effects were neat enough, too even though the animation of some CGI objects was a bit off to my eye, and even though lot of the showy explosions and whatnot felt gratuitous.
But the real problem for me was Holmes himself. Now, Downey acted well, but there's only so much he could do about a script that didn't do the character justice. And then there was his appearance. Holmes in the books has his eccentrities, but I just can't buy a Holmes who makes no effort to look presentable. Watson and Holmes in the film often seemed roughly equal in intellect, too, which just should not happen. Now, Watson's not the idiot he is commonly portrayed as, so his level of intellect in the film seemed appropriate enough; It was Holmes who seemed to have been dumbed down. Holmes is a kind of a Marty Stu. He's supposed to be so far above mere mortals in his mental capacity that anyone capable of outwitting him is quite extraordinary in their own right. It's the very core of his character. Not so here. He is outwitted entirely too frequently - granted, often by characters who are supposed to be his match, but even then with laughably simple methods.
Now, I admit, I've been watching the Granada series with Jeremy Brett recently, so it was virtually impossible for any other Holmes to meet my expectations with Brett's portrayal (and such portrayal!) so fresh in my mind, but given the limits placed upon him for this film, Downey could not have outdone the foggy recollection I have of Basil Rathbone's version.
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Date: 2010-04-27 01:54 am (UTC)I can't say any more though, since I haven't seen the movie and the last time I've read a Holmes book was years ago (I was so obssessed with it I bought all books, including one with small drabbles from Doyle). But I'm tempted to re-read them all over again :)
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Date: 2010-04-27 12:07 pm (UTC)Watson specifically notes in The Musgrave Ritual that Holmes "affected a certain quiet primness of dress". The movie Holmes doesn't even bother to shave when he goes out. :( And the fact that I'm cursed with book purism doesn't help. I always have a hard time accepting actors who don't match the description of the source material, and Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes is just physically miscast; he is not particularly tall (which Holmes is) and I certainly would not call him skinny (which Holmes is). I could have let those fly had they tried to make him look the part otherwise, but I guess they figured they might as well go wild.
As I've mentioned, I've been re-reading all the Holmes stories and absolutely swooning over the Granada TV series (check it out here if you haven't seen it, it's awesome (http://www.youtube.com/user/masterblackmailer4u)) so maybe I was not very receptive for a new kind of Holmes in the first place, but I doubt I could've accepted the movie's version even if I hadn't been refreshing my memory.