[AnglophoniZ] Sherlock Holmes

 

At first I did not know what to expect concerning this adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective. The director, Guy Ritchie, had not got us used to old-England-setting productions with films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (French title is Arnaques, crimes et botanique) or recently RockNRolla. Rithcie changes his style and you will be loving it ! You will probably think I am a crazy woman but I must say that I have totally recognized some part of Disney's The Great Mouse Detective (French title Basil, Détective Privé) when I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes film! And so it comforts me to see details that really define the character of Sherlock Holmes, that are obviously deductive reasoning, analyses and experiments.

As you can see from the poster, Robert Downey Jr. holds the leading role with Jude Law on his side as Dr. Watson. The evil man of the game is this time the great Mark Strong whose voice already puts you into the dark atmosphere of this 19^th century London. The character of the femme fatale is attributed to Irene Adler to whom our dear Sherlock cannot resist (Rachel McAdams, The Notebook) and the almost-nice one to the future Mrs Watson, Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly, Pride and Prejudice, L'Auberge Espagnole). They represent the necessary touch of femininity to be found in such films where men are in the forefront.

The story begins in the heat of battle when Holmes and Watson are just about to solve their supposed last investigation they have worked on together : they are about to beat the magician and murderer Lord Blackwood. Unfortunately after his hanging, Lord Blackwood comes back from his grave and goes further in his black designs. And thus Holmes has to hunt him again, as any self-respecting detective would do leading Watson to follow him again. The case thus involves mysteries, magic, a very dark magic indeed that threatens London's inhabitants and that drives Holmes quite baffled. He will also exceed the limits of his own understanding to, in the end, surprise everyone. Elementary my dear Watson.

However, this Holmes-Watson duet does not look like an association of detectives that is usually seen in other adaptations or films. They rather look like two superheroes whom the police call when they are needed than two traditional detectives. Superheroes are quite fashionable indeed and flood screens for several years. For sure you will encounter in this opus many fights and imposing fights to be more precise. Take a look at the grand finale between Holmes and Lord Blackwood, you will not be disappointed. Far from the image of a clean detective always well dressed and polite in so a “British” way, this version of Holmes is dirty, messy, and he likes boxing and fighting. And yet we have access to Holmes inner character. We see that he may feel quite alone and that he may suffer from from his so-called genius. You will be a little bit surprised, but not at all dissatisfied. As far as aesthetic is concerned, Ritchie has set quite an good representation of the Victorian atmosphere. He has perfectly recreated a London in industrial expansion, an overcrowded London with streets that are mostly dirt roads.

Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are clever, good-looking, entertaining, in other words they are perfectly matched and prove that Ritchie has made the right choice in his cast. You will have a great time seeing this film and that is how it is supposed to be, that is how you are supposed to react with a blockbuster like this. There is no need to say how eager I am to follow their adventures in further films.