It’s unfortunate that the most noteworthy thing about my trip to see Sherlock Holmes was the poor quality of the presentation due to a lackluster speaker system, ’cause this was actually a good flick. (Maybe not good enough to merit a second screening in theatres to see if the problem really was the venue, but we’ll get to that.)
This latest interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prickly super-sleuth finds our hero contending with the sinister Lord Blackwood (played a slightly less intense than usual Mark Strong) and his secret society of purported dark wizards. This time however, rather than the impatient gentleman you might be more familiar with, Sherlock is a bare knuckle boxing, hard-drinking slob. In the capable hands of Robert Downey Jr., the repackaging is a pleasure to buy into.
There’s another change to take note of: Dr. Watson is no longer the portly sycophant awestruck in Sherlock’s shadow, he’s a bristling military veteran and Holmes’ partner in criminalisticism played with British precision by Jude Law. Watson is in the final stages of dawdling before proposing to his longtime girlfriend, which will consequently put an end to his professional association with Holmes. Can the end really be coming so soon? Regardless of whether the threat is real, it provides an excellent amount of bromantic tension to soak in as the dynamic duo soldier on through what they both consider to be their last case together. We actually join this last case of theirs already in progress, which is a bit of a novel approach, and, not to give anything major away, we kind of leave a related case in progress as we exit the film too. This is a pretty slick move in that it implies a history that newcomers to the character can imagine, and it also heavily favours the idea of a sequel, given that the game is still afoot when the credits start rolling.
I really liked the torsion created by the fast-paced rock & roll style of Guy Ritchie grinding up against the slow methodical style of the source material. You can really feel Ritchie’s almost impatient approach driving the story along, cramming in what can be crammed into what makes it on screen. But it oddly fit right in with how Ritchie presented Snatch where we think that Turkish and Tommy are about to be greased by Brick Top, only to venture back in time to see Mickey’s crew of pikeys getting the jump on everyone – it’s not at odds with the tired trademark mystery film’s explanation for how Lord Blackwood’s crimes were committed. Guy Ritchie manages to tread over old ground with new shoes and come up with something different entirely.
I’m not entirely sure how “new” this movie is as far as bringing something to the audience that they have never seen before, be they mystery fans or not, and it might not rate as particularly innovative as Snatch or Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels, but the mood is optimistic, the pace is quick, the quips are funny, and these days watching Downey work is never a waste of time. My complaints centre around auditory concerns, including the thickness of accents which made it hard for me to watch the film “passively”, and some of the more elaborately choreographed scenes ringing a little hollow in their auditory impact, but I lay most of that at the foot of the venue I screened this film in. Besides, thick accents are really more of a sign of authenticity, which is something to be applauded if anything. So while it might not bring me back to the theatre for a second engagement, I think there is a distinct likelihood that it will find its way onto my shelf.
