I’ve known for a while that a new version of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson, has been in the works. Via The Little Professor, I finally got to see the trailer:
WTF? Is this for real? End of the world plots? Martial arts battles? Supernatural stuff? Daredevil stunts and explosions? Hookers? Does any of this sound anything like Sherlock Holmes??!!
Mind you, I’m not really complaining. Sherlock Holmes is a strong character, and his image and stories will survive any oddball interpretations. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed other interpretations of Holmes, in particular the collection Shadows Over Baker Street in which he battles Lovecraftian horrors.
It’s just that, if I were to make a really ridiculous parody of modern action films and their “dumbening“, I would make a film exactly like Sherlock Holmes! I’ll still almost certainly go see it, but I’ll have this latter clip in my mind the whole time:
Skulls in the Stars 
Who cares if it is close to the true Sherlock Holmes character or not! It has Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in it looking oh so hot.
Added to update my name since I’m no longer the fiancee. 🙂
Well, maybe the martial arts part. After all, Holmes was an expert at baritsu.
Blake: True, but my impression is that he really used it only sparingly, and as a last resort. The film trailer practically shows him brawling in every scene! 🙂
And trailers never lie. (-;
Actually, in this case, I’d bet cash money that it’s telling the truth. But when the intellectual, maladjusted, drug-abusing Holmes has already been adapted — his new name is Dr. Gregory House — what’s left for the cinema to pick over?
Speaking of adaptations, did you ever see Young Sherlock Holmes?
Blake: I hadn’t thought about the House/Holmes connection before… hmm…
I did see Young Sherlock Holmes, and as I recall, I really enjoyed it! As I’ve said, I’m not really opposed to reimaginings of classic characters, and will probably even go see the Downey ‘Holmes. I just find it funny that the trailer seemed very much a generic action trailer: take away the name “Sherlock Holmes” from it, and people would be hard-pressed to recognize it as a Holmes story!
Not hookers. Irene Adler was merely Bohemian, and had quite a voice as a singer. I have not met any fictional 19th century Bohemian women, so I can’t say if the attire is correct, but Rachel McAdams is quite the looker, so who am I to complain if the clothing isn’t exact.
Also, The Hound of the Baskervilles had a supernatural element to it (until proven otherwise). The stunts and explosions are a bit harder to relate, but I was mostly surprised that Watson didn’t seem entirely incompetent.
Bob: I’ll admit that the reference to “hookers” is a bit of a stretch on my part, but I would still say that the attire was pretty far from what Doyle probably had in mind (not to mention the naughty shenanigans). I am aware of the would-be supernatural aspect of ‘Hound, but the overt portrayal in the trailer seems much more than Doyle ever did in his Holmes stories. On the other hand, Doyle did believe in fairies, and wrote his share of supernatural tales, so who knows?
my gf is going to freak out when she hears about this.
I don’t know about the next Sherlock Holmes movie, but Gandhi II rocks!
Yep, Gandhi’s ass-kicking days are sadly not reported very often in the history books… 😛