When the new Star Trek movie came out, it was labeled as "not your father's Star Trek." Well, this isn't your father's Sherlock Holmes either, but it also does not deviate from classic Sherlock Holmes. The most memorable thing to me about Sherlock Holmes' stories was his ability to draw conclusions from small details, and that was emphasized in this movie. There is a telling scene where Holmes tells Watson's girlfriend what he can conclude about her just by observing her, and how he is mostly correct, but is wrong about one important thing.
Holmes may be talented and intelligent but is definitely human and his many quirks are shown in the movie. I enjoyed the way he and Watson interacted, and how often it was evident Holmes set up Watson to drag him into another one of his adventures. In one scene Watson complains about all the things he does for Holmes and how Holmes can be annoying, which seems to shock Holmes as his friend has never complained before, yet it is clear that the two are like brothers, and no matter what happens, the two are going to stick together.
The movie was a little different from what I expected in some ways, though Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law played out their characters exactly how I expected and did a wonderful job with it. I think it was the plot that surprised me most, which seemed to have a supernatural focus, but I did not end up disappointed with the result. I was also pleasantly surprised by Rachel McAdams' character. I was afraid she was playing Holmes' love interest and that I would not really like her. I won't go into details, but she wasn't exactly who I thought and I ended up liking her about as much as I believe you are supposed to.
There are several interesting aspects of this movie. Garrett's favorite parts were when Holmes would break down how he would, basically, beat the crap out of someone before he did it. The explanation was shown in slow-mo, while the real thing was shown quickly. My favorite parts were towards the end when Holmes was explaining everything. While he was talking, the clips would show something we saw earlier in the movie that did not make sense at the time, which helped make a visual person like me connect it to the outcome. I guess it's simplistic, but I still liked it because it helped me connect the pieces.
2009 was a pretty lousy year for movies, but this and Star Trek were definitely two gems the year produced. This movie provided a lot of mystery but wrapped up very well, leaving you without a million questions (like I had after seeing The Prestige for the first time, which took me several watches to fully digest), but did set up a possible second movie.
What's your latest movie find?
1 comment:
I have to say, Amy P-Shaw, that reading this review has probably changed my opinion on the movie. I have not seen it yet and did not plan to as it seemed like such a drastic deviation from the original story (leave Hollywood to take a classic literary detective story and add explosions).
However, as you have given it a favorable review, I'm now willing to at least go see it. The movie industry has you to thank for the $20,000 dollars it will cost me to purchase a ticket!
Also, considering your review is awesome and detailed, I suppose I will have to step up the quality of my own reviews. Blah. :P
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