This is Perhaps Not the Appropriate Icon
Or maybe it is.
wojelah and I (and various Woj-relations and such) went to a preview of Sherlock Holmes tonight. I have LOTS to say, most of which will have to wait until tomorrow when I have a full keyboard. But a couple things.
First, two big thumbs up to Hans Zimmer for the score. It's steampunk and a little bombastic and a little over-the-top, but no more than Holmes himself.
I had the same reaction to hearing that RDJ was cast to play Holmes as I did when I heard he was cast to play Tony Stark - great appreciation of the irony. I can't say that he did just as good a job as Holmes as he did as Stark, but it was a pretty excellent performance. (He had a huge hill to climb to get me to like Tony so I have to give him cred for that. I already liked Holmes. There were times when he felt more RDJ than SH though.)
The was no (mention of) cocaine but Holmes was sufficiently bipolar for me to be satisfied and they seem to have gone back to the source material to dig up some of the less gentlemanly qualities. (Like the boxing.)
Weirdly, that left Watson to be the muscle on occasion which was just...strange. I seem to have blocked out anything interesting about Watson from the stories, but they did bring up a gambling habit that sounds somewhat familiar.
Mary was in the movie as his fiancee-to-be, now with 900% more personality than I ever recall. She's okay with Holmes and Watson being together as long as Watson gives her details. (I did not entirely make that up.)
Alas, my personal disappointment in the movie was my darling Irene. Rachel McAdams did a decent job with the role she was given, but I wish they hadn't pretended she was Irene.
The problem, I think, is that I came at Sherlock Holmes through Carole Nelson Douglas's version of Irene from her pastiches. Going strictly off "A Scandal in Bohemia" this Irene probably isn't a gross distortion of character, but I prefer the interpretation of her with endless honor and class. Also even though they made reference to the events in "Scandal" Irene utterly failed to pull anything over on Holmes this time around.
Other brief notes:
If you're upset about the magic, don't be.
If you're worried this isn't the epic love story of Holmes and Watson, don't be.
There will be a sequel. I am sure of it.
PS: Arundel Mills? Your street-clearing is for shit. For. Shit.
wojelah and I (and various Woj-relations and such) went to a preview of Sherlock Holmes tonight. I have LOTS to say, most of which will have to wait until tomorrow when I have a full keyboard. But a couple things.
First, two big thumbs up to Hans Zimmer for the score. It's steampunk and a little bombastic and a little over-the-top, but no more than Holmes himself.
I had the same reaction to hearing that RDJ was cast to play Holmes as I did when I heard he was cast to play Tony Stark - great appreciation of the irony. I can't say that he did just as good a job as Holmes as he did as Stark, but it was a pretty excellent performance. (He had a huge hill to climb to get me to like Tony so I have to give him cred for that. I already liked Holmes. There were times when he felt more RDJ than SH though.)
The was no (mention of) cocaine but Holmes was sufficiently bipolar for me to be satisfied and they seem to have gone back to the source material to dig up some of the less gentlemanly qualities. (Like the boxing.)
Weirdly, that left Watson to be the muscle on occasion which was just...strange. I seem to have blocked out anything interesting about Watson from the stories, but they did bring up a gambling habit that sounds somewhat familiar.
Mary was in the movie as his fiancee-to-be, now with 900% more personality than I ever recall. She's okay with Holmes and Watson being together as long as Watson gives her details. (I did not entirely make that up.)
Alas, my personal disappointment in the movie was my darling Irene. Rachel McAdams did a decent job with the role she was given, but I wish they hadn't pretended she was Irene.
The problem, I think, is that I came at Sherlock Holmes through Carole Nelson Douglas's version of Irene from her pastiches. Going strictly off "A Scandal in Bohemia" this Irene probably isn't a gross distortion of character, but I prefer the interpretation of her with endless honor and class. Also even though they made reference to the events in "Scandal" Irene utterly failed to pull anything over on Holmes this time around.
Other brief notes:
If you're upset about the magic, don't be.
If you're worried this isn't the epic love story of Holmes and Watson, don't be.
There will be a sequel. I am sure of it.
PS: Arundel Mills? Your street-clearing is for shit. For. Shit.