Blockbuster Monday: Sherlock Holmes (2009)

So we hopped on the T, went to Anna's and decided to have a double feature. (And burritos). This was after we went to see the below at the Boston Common.

Who would have thought that in the battle of the holiday blockbusters, Guy Ritchie would make the superior product? This was actually a pleasant surprise, it being so much better than the trailers would let on. It didn't seem like it, but Robert Downey Jr. was riffing a lot less here than they would have led you to believe. I like this sort of Victorian era/sort-of gothic horror tale/mystery-I like the atmosphere they created here. I mean they turned Holmes into much more of an adventurer, who has bare knuckled boxing matches and jumps out of windows. But I liked Jude Law, probably a bit better her than Downey,I liked how Watson is a friend and more than a sidekick-just as smart as Holmes is. I liked Rachel McAdams character, and I enjoyed the steam-punkish aspects of it. Interestingly enough, besides Guy Ritchie's attempts to "modernize" things, mostly in the pace and the action setpieces (although they are mostly well done) the actual character of Holmes, oddly enough, seems to be actually pretty close to Sir Doyle's original creation.

I liked small things that might be goofier than they should be-like Holmes' little case he has for checking out cadavers and picking locks. I mean its a big Holiday blockbuster, probably a bit too "modern", to speak, so its not without its goofy elements. But, for the most part, Ritchie manages to reign in his worst stylistic tics. Perhaps it will make people seek out the source material, at the very least. Don't expect anything much greater, but I feel like it is better and even somewhat darker than the usual fare. I am a sucker for a smart, adventurer in another time. I'm probably overstating it, but as far as escapist fare goes you could probably do worse.

I thought that Sir Thomas was played by the original Jackal himself, Edward Fox, turns out it was actually his brother James Fox. I am always confusing the two.