I would have gone to see any movie with Robert Downey, Jr., but I was also excited to see a new big-screen adaptation of the great characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as I didn't know much about them. Downey, Jr. plays Holmes, with Jude Law as Dr. John Watson, and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, and American con artist thief (and the love of Holmes). We first see Holmes and Watson stopping a ritualistic murder, and catching the serial killer. During the ensuing months Watson begins the process of moving out of their rooms to marry a young woman named Mary. Holmes does all he can to thwart their match, as he doesn't want to lose Watson (their bromance is both taken seriously and played for laughs and definitely reminded me of House and Wilson on "House, M.D." in that Watson protects Holmes from himself, and Holmes is fiercely loyal to Watson and secretly loves Irene). Holmes is going stir-crazy trying to find challenging things to do, as all his offers of work seem silly. However, at the time their serial killer is to be hanged, Holmes and Watson get drawn back into a much larger investigation surrounding the man about to die. The whole story is reminiscent of Indiana Jones, with mysticism and mystery, but as it is Sherlock Holmes, ultimately, it's more like a Victorian Age Mentalist.
The acting, directing, story-telling and overall look of the movie are terrific. The one complaint I had was the difficulty in understanding the rapid-fire, mumbled dialogue. I was always a few moments behind understanding the terrific dialogue, which does make the experience a bit tiresome. One of the best movies of 2009, and I can't wait to watch it again on DVD so I can rewind any dialogue I don't understand. 4.5 stars/lambs
5 comments:
The difficult dialogue is a staple of Guy Ritchie. And in fact, this was actually one of his easiest to understand. Try watching "Snatch" or "Rock'n'Rolla." Now THOSE are hard to understand.
You are totally right. I couldn't understand snatch at all.
Especially Brad Pitt's awesome unintelligible accent!
Good review of the movie. I did have more beef against the movie although I still gave it a generous B+. The main thing I would have wanted to see more is Holmes interacting with people, may it be Adler, Watson or strangers. The movie felt a little slow at times when he was by himself. I also felt the very talented supporting cast was given very little to work with which is a bit mysterious since the movie is over two hours long. Oh well, the sequel has a lot of potential!
I enjoyed the movie a lot, but I didn't really feel that emotionally involved in the story beyond just trying to figure things out along with Holmes.
Yeah, the dialogue threw me for a loop too, especially when Holmes was explaining all the crazy "science" things to others.
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