The screenplay never really explained why Blackwood had murdered four women and tried to kill a fifth. Actually, he'd killed five, and the one in the underground ceremony would've been Victim #6. He did it because the filmmakers just had to go and make him Jack the Ripper on top of everything else.
Maybe you missed it on account of Downey's mumbling (which I never noticed, actually), but the murders are referenced in the scene where Holmes figures out Blackwood is targeting parliament. Before all that stuff about the cross and the three murders, Holmes points out that there's supposed to be a pentagram as well as a cross, but that's where the five murdered women come in, so he quickly skips over that point.
I also enjoyed McAdams' Irene Adler, but I sympathize with those critics who find her an unconvincing professional match for Holmes. Not because of McAdams' performance, because of the way her character is written--for me, her intelligence and competence were overshadowed by the two times she was almost killed by Lord Blackwood, and the way she spent the entire movie not just being fooled but controlled by the film's other villain.
I liked Kelly Reilly's Mary Morstan as well; I just wish the filmmakers had given her a little more to do.
Everybody loves the use of "The Rocky Road to Dublin." Self included. (Although I've also seen the movie twice, and I only noticed it in one scene.)
I'm with you on the plot. Entertainingly complex, but not too difficult to follow.
(Seeing as how I seem to be reacting to your points in reverse ...) I've never considered myself a "major" Holmes fan either, but the trailer for this movie quite put me off my lunch. It made Sherlock Holmes look like a derivative action flick, with only nodding acquaintance to the Holmesian canon. I went into the movie expecting it to be awful. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised.
Actually, he'd killed five, and the one in the underground ceremony would've been Victim #6. He did it because the filmmakers just had to go and make him Jack the Ripper on top of everything else.
Maybe you missed it on account of Downey's mumbling (which I never noticed, actually), but the murders are referenced in the scene where Holmes figures out Blackwood is targeting parliament. Before all that stuff about the cross and the three murders, Holmes points out that there's supposed to be a pentagram as well as a cross, but that's where the five murdered women come in, so he quickly skips over that point.
I also enjoyed McAdams' Irene Adler, but I sympathize with those critics who find her an unconvincing professional match for Holmes. Not because of McAdams' performance, because of the way her character is written--for me, her intelligence and competence were overshadowed by the two times she was almost killed by Lord Blackwood, and the way she spent the entire movie not just being fooled but controlled by the film's other villain.
I liked Kelly Reilly's Mary Morstan as well; I just wish the filmmakers had given her a little more to do.
Everybody loves the use of "The Rocky Road to Dublin." Self included. (Although I've also seen the movie twice, and I only noticed it in one scene.)
I'm with you on the plot. Entertainingly complex, but not too difficult to follow.
(Seeing as how I seem to be reacting to your points in reverse ...) I've never considered myself a "major" Holmes fan either, but the trailer for this movie quite put me off my lunch. It made Sherlock Holmes look like a derivative action flick, with only nodding acquaintance to the Holmesian canon. I went into the movie expecting it to be awful. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised.
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