One of the best things about this film is that it officially marks the return of Guy Ritchie. Not just a return, but a new step into a broader world of cinema for him as a director.
The second thing this Christmas day blockbuster has to offer would be a reawakening of Sherlock Holmes as a cultural icon. A new generation’s ears have perked at a sleeping giant in our world’s literature. I myself, who as a kid cast off Sherlock as a character of my father’s generation or my mother’s English class, stormed off immediately to my local bookstore to buy a newly bound collection of this detective’s original adventures. My young cousin of 15 years, began to study his exploits in her literature classes instead of the dry and much less interesting monologues of Colonel Kurtz. Although my mother (an Literature teacher) refuses to see the movie based on her assumption that its modernization is a negative one, you can’t help but smile at the ripples of an awakening literary icon.
All these praisings said, the film is far from perfect. I tire of mindless, domino effect action where one accidental consequence spurs yet 5 more into a disastrous climax which leaves everyone down save the hero who stands with a goofy shrug of Hollywood luck (the hero never dies). But I guess that is the consequences of pleasing the main stream. You must soften the blows and violence of action in some way.
To nod back to Ritchie, there are three elements I love in this movie. One would be the music, which as now been nominated for an Oscar. Second is Ritchie’s ability to capture a moment, to freeze it, show you the ripples of skin impacted by a punch, amaze you with the beauty of an explosion frozen in time, and then slam you back in with perfectly lead sound design and camera movement.
Last but not least, I want to hail the opening credits. I am always sucked into a movie when the opening shot, scene, or credit is lead to pull you in. In Ritchie’s Holmes, the camera travels along the cobbled stone streets of London introducing the makers (or breakers) of the movie as their logos are created from the stones themselves. The mood and world of the movie is set even before the camera pans up to a hurried police carriage armed with Doc. Watson and company. My final comment will direct you to the fact that there really isn’t anything new under the sun these days. Check out the video beneath to see what I mean.
