Fractured Holmes

I know that both Shocho and FKL were rather taken with the new Sherlock Holmes movie. (The praise of the latter, him being the biggest fan of the original stories I know, seemed a particularly good sign.)

Unfortunately, when I went to see the movie for myself, I was not as impressed. I didn't think it necessarily a bad film, but it certainly felt to me like a film in which the good elements weren't given proper space to breathe, smothered by lackluster action sequences and other unnecessary elements.

For example, one good -- well, great -- element is the two lead actors. As Holmes and Watson, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law both put their own good spin on their characters, and have a good rapport with one another. But the film doesn't make enough use of their interplay for my tastes. For what should be a "buddy" movie, the two spend an odd amount of time separated in the film. Many sequences feature Holmes only, and gifted as Downey is, in this movie its only in scenes with Law where he really crackles.

Instead, Dr. Watson gets shoved to the sideline somewhat regularly to make room for Irene Adler, played by Rachel McAdams. Her character feels forced into the movie just for the Hollywood need to include a significant female character for the "draw" that will have on the audience. As the only female, her character twists implausibly from one scene to the next to serve the needs of a Hollywood script; in one scene she's villainous, in the next virtuous; sometimes she's Holmes' intellectual equal, in others she's a mere damsel in distress. The inconsistency keeps her interactions from having the same spark as the Holmes/Watson relationship, so every moment spent on her and Holmes feels like wasted time where we're being robbed of a relationship that does work.

The mystery itself is rather cleverly put together, and in a way very true to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's style. Without spoiling specifics, it has technological underpinnings disguised as the supernatural, and is well set in the time period. When Holmes unravels it all, the mystical becomes mundane, much in the style of the short stories.

But the mystery itself often gets crowded out by mindless action. Of course, I acknowledge this movie's core concept is to turn the often-portrayed-as-stuffy Holmes into a more modern action hero. And let me say, not all of the action beats come off bad in my view. The various scenes of boxing and fisticuffs are generally quite entertaining; refreshingly, there's less of the martial arts we're used to seeing in movies and more brute force. Other sequences, however, bring in CG assistance, and are too outrageous (and the CG too unrealistic) to keep you in the moment. The threat of giant bits of shrapnel flying around, or of falling from a great height, just isn't credible when the environments look painted and the objects in them don't seem to have the proper weight, motion, or shadow.

To sum up, I found the core concept worthy, but not well-executed. Perhaps I can hope for better from the inevitable sequel -- given the huge amounts of money this has made already, and the obvious set up for the villain in the next film. This movie, I rate a C+.