Full Faculty Recovery? Unlikely!

Just popping in today for a quick review!  Sherlock Holmes.... supposedly.  :)

I heard some mixed reviews about this movie... Holmes purists having a cow... Friends watching the trailer (into which they managed to work all the dodgy moments *cough*)... Other friends watching and liking...  I watched the trailer myself, and thought it looked rather exciting.  Not to mention full of rapid repartee, which sells me every time. ;)

I don't want to give away any of the plot, because that was BRILLIANT and incredibly well-written.  So just some highlights...

Yes, Holmes is very much different.  IMHO, much better (as in, not so blooming full of himself, and not a cocaine addicts, etc.)  Downey Jr plays him brilliantly, and I have a habit of over-analyzing acting performances.  He really WAS the character.  Holmes is everything Holmes should have been, but wasn't in the books.

No, there aren't many awkward (dodgy) moments.  A total of two, in fact.  What's more prolific is fast-action violence.  Yet an absurd lack of blood.  Besides CGI slow-mo shots of faces contorting in the path of fists, no real shots of the aftermath.  Everyone recovers remarkably from being thrown across rooms... *cough*  Haha.

Yes, there is some black magic.  Most of it is explained as fake later on, but there are some bits left hanging.  Not acknowledged, and not written off.  Someone is sentenced to death for practice of black magic, however.  It's not excused, at any rate.  Holmes appears to dabble in some himself, but I believe what the makers were trying to communicate was him reenacting a scene and trying to get inside his opponents' heads.

Like all movies, you want to watch out for the little things that get under your guard.  Irene is said to be "between husbands" and she excuses herself.  Holmes irreverently says, "And on the third day..." as he meets someone outside the site of a supposed resurrection.

The really amazing part of this movie is the incredible dialogue between Holmes and Watson.  It's unbelievably British, amazingly hilarious (if you've got the ear), and ridiculously well-delivered.  Extremely quotable.  Makes for really really really great entertainment.

I blooming loved this movie.  I'm not condoning all of its risqué elements, but film-wise, in today's day and age, it was remarkable.  Watch it!

AMZi x x x x x