Very much looking forward to the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes” movie with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law.
I’m a big fan of the original stories and have read them many, many times. So there’s always a degree of trepidation when someone decides to “interpret” a classic.
In this case, however, the director Guy Ritchie is himself a fan of the books and has gone back to the source material. And there is plenty in the original stories to support a darker and edgier take on Holmes (recall his cocaine habit, for example).
And Watson was never the buffoon he’s made out to be in most of the best known adaptions.
Anyway, here’s the trailer…
In our customary scoring system…
A-Attention
Appropriately spooky music and waste no time setting the scene before a dramatic segue into the next section. OK, it’s a little cliched but it works pretty well.
Score – 2
I – Interest
With a movie like this, where most people have some knowledge of the character and the broad story, the art is to keep people guessing and pique interest in what new twists and turns there are. This section cuts quickly from clip to clip but gives a good idea of the theme and the plot. Again, a decent job.
Score – 2
D – Desire
OK, I’m a fan so I was probably going to go anyway. But, as I said, the big problem with a reinterpretation is the risk of alienating current fans. People tend to have very strong ideas about what favourite books and characters should look like. In this case, I think Ritchie has done a good job and I’m genuinely curious to see his version of the great Holmes (plus, I admire Downey Jr).
For non hardcore fans, I think the movie looks pretty interesting with plenty of action and the draw of a Guy Ritchie movie plus the high profile cast.
Score – 2
Bonus Mark – 1. Overall the trailer is fine, so worth an overall…
Total – 7
Feel free to score this yourself and post a comment.