Sherlock Holmes

[ArcanineOod]

-Contains spoilers for the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film-

Now, I'm a fan, a huuge fan, of the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's series of stories starring the detective Sherlock Holmes. I think the books are great, and many people worldwide agree.

I watch the television series starring the late Jeremy Brett as Holmes and enjoy it immensely, so when I heard that a Sherlock Holmes film was in production, I was thrilled. I knew it wouldn't be anything like as good as the books, but I was still excited.

I was unprepared for it.
The end credits said something along the lines of:
The characters of Sherlock Holmes and Watson were created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I personally felt that they could have added on an extra line:
Not that it matters, because the character you just saw was not Sherlock Holmes.

Now, I may be overreacting and blowing it out of proportion (in fact, I'm sure I am), but...
Sherlock Holmes is not capable of feeling love for another person. He is cold, calculating; a logic machine. He loves Watson as a dear friend and brother, but he is not a character who can be given a 'love interest'. I know that when you create a film you can be given a little bit of creative license, but Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes?

He respects her for outsmarting him, but that's it. She was in love with her husband, and she left him because... He was boring and he snored? She's a completely different character in this film, and while Sherlock is still a logical detective... He's given a love interest, which is totally against everything ever heard about him in the books.

I found Watson to be pretty faithful to the book's representation of him, although I could be wrong. I didn't really pay that much attention to Watson, I'm afraid.


So, this thread is for discussion about the film and its relation to the original books, and for general discussion about all things Sherlock Holmes in general. ^_^

xX

 

[Esper]

I was bothered more by the movie trying to make Holmes into an action hero. He's not supposed to be a man of action - Watson is. Holmes is supposed to outsmart people, not beat them up. I did like that Watson had a limp, though it seemed to come and go, particularly during the many action scenes.

I found it wasn't such a bad movie if I kept telling myself it wasn't really Sherlock Holmes. I was expecting The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (so you could say I had some pretty low expectations) and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a horrible movie.

 

[Pokémon Ranger ✩ Moriarty]

I was bothered more by the movie trying to make Holmes into an action hero. He's not supposed to be a man of action - Watson is. Holmes is supposed to outsmart people, not beat them up.

Actually, Sherlock Holmes was an extremely active character in the novels and several times beat the crap out of his foes. People seem to confuse him with other more stilted cerebral characters like Hercule Poirot, when that is not actually the case. -.-

I haven't seen the film, but I have to say I love the score already. Considering it's composed by Hans Zimmer, that's not surprising though. XD

 

[JP]

I was a big fan of the original styled Sherlock Holmes, but I also very much enjoyed this modern take on him. I went to see it (more like forced...) with a not so open mind about it, but it definitely turned out to be a great surprise. I guess these days you can't really go wrong in watching a movie with Robert Downy Jr. :P

 

[Dominus Temporis]

Actually, Sherlock Holmes was an extremely active character in the novels and several times beat the crap out of his foes. People seem to confuse him with other more stilted cerebral characters like Hercule Poirot, when that is not actually the case. -.-

Yup, one of my favorite stories is "The Speckled Band" and I love the part where Holmes casually bends the fireplace poker back into shape.

I really enjoyed the film, it was nice to have a more modern take on Holmes while still keeping a lot of ideas from the original canon (I loved the references to Mycroft, and the VR in bulletholes on the wall). The summation of Blackwood's plot was a great moment, as was the big mook speaking fluent French. I understand people's reservations on the romantic subplot, but I think there's wiggle room for interpretation on just how Holmes felt toward Irene. I kinda got the idea that he was somebody who wanted to love but didn't have the capability to express his feelings normally, as he couldn't really tell Watson how much he wanted him to stay.

Speaking of, I'm really glad they made Watson an equal to Holmes rather than the bumbling fool he's often shown as. And they actually put in the dog! Who was only in like one sentence of the original stories! I thought it was a pretty good film, all things considered.

 

[Esper]

Actually, Sherlock Holmes was an extremely active character in the novels and several times beat the crap out of his foes. People seem to confuse him with other more stilted cerebral characters like Hercule Poirot, when that is not actually the case. -.- XD

Admittedly, it's been a while since I read the books and short stories, but I don't remember Holmes participating in any human cockfights.

 

[Pazuru]

Sherlock Holmes does have fights with some of his foes. I don't recall any physical ones (that, and I haven't read all the books yet), but there is a reason why he trained in Fencing.

ANYWAYS.

I watched the movie yesterday, and might I say that I was really happy with the movie. There are some not-open minded details that could be noted like the person being Sherlock Holmes being too 'good looking' to be Holmes, but in general, I really enjoyed the movie. Some of the parts made me giggle (like the hammer vs axe. Nice little breaking the ice there. xD

I would say more, but eh. I will later. :B

 

[Commander Jupiter]

I saw this movie yesterday with my father and brother. I liked it, as I have never read the books (I am going to order the complete set this morning off amazon ;p; ). I thought the plot was pretty pimp. My favorite part was when he was handcuffed to the bed, "Ma'am I am a trained professional".

Overall a 9/10 movie, I would go see it again.