Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of the movie trailer for Sherlock Holmes.
DVD Review
Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Junior and Jude Law, 2010
Hollywood (and elsewhere) has given up many interpretations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective (along with ace companion, Doctor Watson) since the time of the acerbic, arch, understated Basil Rathbone days along with a bumbling Doctor Watson in the 1930s. Since then, depending on the times, he has been everything from a “hippie” dope fiend to the the present protean man performance by Robert Downey, Junior. In an age when every action film has to meet the Iron Man comic book standard, or better, it is, apparently, no longer possible to portray the magi of Baker Street as a stay-at-home bookish intellectual and mere man of scientific deduction. He must now also be the avenging angel (and old Doc as well), well versed in the martial arts and other forms of self-defense against the criminal element and in this film the besieged British Empire.
Now, normally, I would not review this kind of film, although I am always happy to watch anything that Robert Downey, Junior has a part in. He is just a very interesting actor to watch in the line of Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, Jeff Bridges and the like. I, of course, thrilled to Conan Doyle’s stories ever since grade school where the teacher recited aloud Hounds of The Baskervilles to us. And I have read plenty of his other stories but usually the story line is nothing worthy of comment. This one, however, is slightly different.
Our finely-honed and alert pair in this caper are trying fend off the attempts by one Lord Blackburn to create an evil (of course) world-wide Empire and take control of the world’s resources. Hey, wait a minute this is mid-19th century England where the Britain Empire ruled the waves. Hello, that was the evil empire. Just ask the average India peasant or those in about fifty other places. And the way the evil Lord intended to reign (poor old Victoria be damned) is through what appears to be something like a “Rump” Parliament that seems to have some historic reflection back to Oliver Cromwell’s times. Now I know the British monarchy and its myriad supporters never got over that “interloper’s” transgressions but this is sublime, indeed. Naturally, the ever-hovering background presence of evil incarnate, Professor Moriarty, is wovened into the plot as well. So you can see what I have taken the time to write up a couple of sentences to review this film.
But here is my real problem with the story line. Now, traditionally, old Sherlock is not known to be enamored of the ladies, although not a few have swooned over him. No time for that stuff, old boy, right? Here though he seems to have a certain feeling for one very fetching villainess, and he coyly leaves her own devices. So what if she was Professor Moriarty’s agent. I told you she was fetching, real fetching. In the parlance of the spy game old Sherlock could have “turned” her into a double agent. Sherlock wake up.
Showing posts with label british empire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label british empire. Show all posts
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