Baker Street
Levitation, explosions, bare-chested fisticuffs… Why, it must be Sherlock Holmes.
That kind of thing never happened to Jeremy Brett. Holmes purists will no doubt be inhaling with alarm, but I quite like the look of it.
Levitation, explosions, bare-chested fisticuffs… Why, it must be Sherlock Holmes.
That kind of thing never happened to Jeremy Brett. Holmes purists will no doubt be inhaling with alarm, but I quite like the look of it.
It looks insane. (But fun.)
What’s a ‘Holmes Purist’? They exist? Still, looks slightly better than the usual SH nonsense, and RDJ has the role of his life…:)
I’m there. 😀
Dr W,
“They exist?”
Oh yes. Like Trekkers and Whovians, there are a lot of them about, though usually indoors.
http://www.sherlock-holmes.org/english_fans.htm#societes
“RDJ has the role of his life…:)”
He does seem to be having fun. I may actually hand over money to see a Guy Ritchie film.
Oh hang on – it’s Guy Ritchie? Cancel my booking immediately…
It looks like a cracking period adventure, but it’s hardly Sherlock Holmes.
Purist!
It looks more fun than the usual Guy Ritchie movie. Maybe his talent came back after escaping Madonna.
What. The. Fuck?
I seem to remember Jeremy Brett’s Holmes indulging in fisticuffs at least once. Though he didn’t end up naked and handcuffed to a bed.
I’m thinking Pirates of the Caribbean meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It still looks better than Wolverine though.
Yeah, I saw this and immediately thought ‘League…’ ripoff. It does look like pretty good popcorn entertainment though, and I think I owe it to Robert Downey Jr for his teriffic ‘Iron Man’.
Jude Law, I’m not so impressed with…
Man, it looks way better than League (at least the film) but, then, that isn’t saying a whole lot.
Actually, ‘League…’ was a pretty good popcorn flick too.
Unless you’d read the graphic novel it was (allegedly!) based on. Then it was an abomination!
Stephen Norrington somehow managed to purge every atom of the comic’s sleazy period charm, which is quite a feat. (Incidentally, LOEG volume 3/1 is out now.)
“I seem to remember Jeremy Brett’s Holmes indulging in fisticuffs at least once. Though he didn’t end up naked and handcuffed to a bed.”
Not that that stopped some of us from fantasizing him in that position.
What?
This reminds me of nothing more than Wild Wild West.
WTF is an American doing playing Holmes? Yes, I am a purist, and proud of it. Here, let me show you:
Yes, Brett’s Holmes beat up a drunken Australian in “The Solitary Cyclist.”
Still, I will probably download it as soon as it hits BitTorrent, if for nothing else than to criticize it. Or to be pleasantly suprised. I’m certainly not going to sit through 30 mins of commercials, a sticky floor, and pay $10 to see it, though.
Actually, I just thought of the one thing which recommends Jr. to the role- his experience with drug addiction. But being an American movie (try and tell me it’s not) the hero cannot shoot up cocaine.
The reason this movie fails (and it has already failed, it just waits for its appointed hour to manifest) is that it doesn’t take the setting seriously. Holmes lived in Victorian Britain. Not in some steam punk insanity. The only non-realistic thing in Holmes’ universe was the spiritualism, which was heavily influenced by Sir Arthur’s own beliefs.
This is just shite.
Candice,
I doubt RDJ will dispense with the character’s cerebral nature and I’m guessing the levitation scene will turn out to be a dream or recounted imagining, which Holmes will eventually debunk. It is, after all, a teaser trailer, so we’re probably seeing the more outlandish bits.
I may have to borrow the phrase “steampunk insanity.”
Andrea
Don’t stint on the details. Did he still have his top hat and cane?
Well, I think I’ll still see it. Hopefully, if it’s a long movie, I can make use of this handy new bit of Internet geekery:
http://theridiculant.metro.co.uk/2009/05/runpee-collaborative-boringbit-locator-for-the-smallbladdered-film-enthusiast.html
Fortunately, Holmes’s creator was an exceptionally good writer, so no matter what wierdness film-makers throw at us (remember Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce against the Nazis?) we can always retreat to the original texts and there will be Holmes in all his maddening, quicksilver glory. I think it’s delightful that good old Sherlock has become a theme that so many people like to riff on.