Just goofy. I was disturbed by the voices and the grubby nature of everyone. Didn't anyone bath or tend to the open head wounds in Victorian England? When the Gypsies are the cleanest group in the film that tells you something.
Guy Richie has made a movie that certainly is a triumph in design and costuming. The matrix-like effects are worth sitting through the duller parts and the bad vocal work.
What is the plot? It doesn't matter because there is no plot. Just gorgeous dark effects using the latest visual technology. Half the time this feels like an experiment rather than a movie even though nothing is particularly fresh or new.
It's certainly far from the version of Holmes and Watson that most of us have grown up with. In that respect it's can often be fun when the movie plays on the many eccentricities of our favorite detective. Purist will hate it. I was looking for something new to watch on a Wednesday afternoon and it was there. I am sure I will forget everything I saw by tomorrow.
Jared Harris makes a disturbingly psychotic Professor Moriarty. We live in a golden age for great character actors. I want to see Harris on the third season of 'Boardwalk Empire' now that I have seen him work Moriarty's 'slow boil' to perfection.
Stephen Fry is also brilliant as Mycroft, Holmes' brother. Clearly he has no problems with his body. All his scenes made me laugh out loud.
I enjoyed the story technique where they showed Holmes thinking five moves ahead of everyone else and analyzing all the clues in his immediate environment in order to make one miraculous escape after another. It's cartoonish fun that I enjoyed more the further along the movie went.
7/10
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2 comments:
We caught this yesterday. Pretty enjoyable overall. Has to be watched with a couple of caveats:
If you're a strict Holmes/Watson traditionalist you may not like it. Jeremy Brett wasn't too into martial arts moves and machine guns.
If you don't like visually dark movies, this may not be for you. It reminded me most the time like something from Ridley Scott.
If you are a gun nut you'll have to suspend disbelief often. Broomhandle Mauser with detachable box magazine in 1891? Is.to.laugh.
All in all I'm glad I saw it. You're comment about the oddness of the Gypsies being the most hygenic folks in the movie is spot on.
No matter how much I love the brilliance of the original stories, I enjoy every new spin put on Holmes.
New spins reach new audiences, and hence more people end up getting into SH.
Purists be damned. This movie was highly entertaining. Superhero-ish as it was. Casting is excellent.
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