Viewed on DVD, May 2010
I've always been a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes; I've also loved Robert Downey Jr. since I saw him in Iron Man in summer 2009. When I heard that both of these wise guys were in the same movie, I almost freaked out from excitement. I waited and waited to see the film, hoping I would hear fantastic reports about it, that it was the best Sherlock movie ever, that RDJr. has done it again, blah blah blah... What I heard concerned me; it was only marginally disproven when I finally saw the film.
I had heard that the movie was making the original literary character into a new type of superhero--well, yeah, I could tell that just from the poster. I had heard that the film was laced with spiritual junk--hmm, that could be a problem. And I had heard that the film just, wasn't that great.
I agree with the first one; this film is a great film of some other character, but it's definitely NOT a Sherlock Holmes movie. I'm by no means a purist who beats other people up over the color of Sherlock's glasses, but I also like to see the core essence of the character preserved in the transition from book to screen. This film was a fantastic film, and RDJr. creates yet another memorable character who makes us hate him and love him all at the same time. However, it's not Sherlock Holmes.
The second accusation, I also agree with. There is far too many spiritual overtones and way too many references to the occult. The violent, ritual-related deaths are dwelt on far too long, and I did not enjoy the absence of "the other side," if you will--there's no real mention of God or His power. **SPOILER ALERT!!!** I definitely felt this way until the last ten minutes of the film. When everything is explained, I felt so much better and even liked the film the way it is! **SPOILER OVER!!!**
The third, ehhh, we're gonna have to agree to disagree, I guess. The story was very intriguing, and it was a very fast-moving film. (I didn't realize how long it was until when the credits started rolling.) I actually really like this film.
NEGATIVES:
>> Only four or five profanities IN THE WHOLE MOVIE!!! Wow, when does THAT happen?!? :)
>> Violence is very prevalent. People are shot, hanged, blown up, punched, electrocuted, crushed, run through with swords, burned alive, fall out of third-story-windows, poisoned, immolated, drowned, throw stuff at each other, and a maggot-eaten corpse is unearthed. This movie isn't your third-grade Sherlock, guys and gals. Very little blood is shown, but people are...well, let's just say there's a pretty high body count. (Some slo-mo fighting scenes are pretty darn cool.) Also, some dissected animals are pretty disturbing.
>> Already talked about the spiritual front--through the whole film, Sherlock is the only character who (mostly) keeps his logical naturalistic head about him. Everyone else is caught up in the fear and fervor of the "son of Satan," as the main baddie is called. Rituals and chants come up from time to time. It's really pretty exhausting, for the first two-thirds of the film. Then, the characters finally come into their own and it's not quite so oppressive anymore.
>> Alcohol is a very real force in Sherlock's life. He's even shown with what appears to be a hangover. Drugs are used throughout the film and are experimented with several times.
>> Sexual content isn't really that bad. One female character wears some rather revealing clothing, and she even half-undresses once (we don't see anything to make us turn away). Sherlock is chained naked to a bed and is put in a funny though compromising situation when he finds out the keys to the lock is...ahem...in an extremely uncomfortable place.
Even with the violence and blatant occultism, I really enjoyed this film. I don't think it's quite appropriate for young children, and I'd be careful letting even younger teenagers watch it. There are just too many questions left unanswered and too many things are flippantly dealt with.
4 stars out of 6
So that everyone (including myself) may benefit from it, please feel free to leave your own personal opinion of this film.
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I disagree with your opinion that Sherlock Holmes is a different character. If you've read the books, you know that the former movie adaptations are more of a leap away from the original character than this movie is. In a similar note, this adaptation also portrays Watson more like the character he is in the book, not the former movies.
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