Comments | kattahj: thoughts on various Holmeses

kattahj

thoughts on various Holmeses

Oct 02, 2012 17:47

I watched the pilot of Elementary, and am trying to figure out why Miller!Holmes and Cumberbatch!Holmes are nails on a chalkboard for me, when I'm fine with Downey!Holmes.

( No spoilers, but cut anyway, so as to not rain on anyone's parade. )

film talk, sherlock holmes, sherlock, tv talk, elementary

Comments 4

therru October 4 2012, 17:50:30 UTC

I was pretty disappointed with Miller!Holmes. I enjoy both Downey and Cucumberpatch, but Miller struck me as formulaic and empty, just a set of stereotypical behaviours. Maybe he'll fill out as the series progresses - a pilot is typically a bit brick-droppy, just to make sure that the viewers understand exactly what the show is about and what the characters are like. But I'm not betting on it. You need someone with tons and tons of personality to pull off Holmes, or he does just come off as a jerk.

kattahj October 4 2012, 18:36:26 UTC

What struck me in particular is that the way he's introduced specifically heightens his assholishness. Downey, as I said, starts with the brilliancy before moving on to asshole, Cumberbatch gets about 50-50, but Miller's at least 80% asshole in that first scene.

therru October 4 2012, 20:55:00 UTC

Assholery can be good, though, if it's done the right way. I loved Gregory House from the get-go, even with the assholery, because he was a)assholery in a fun way, and b)very very charismatic. But there, again, you have Hugh Laurie being just awesome. Holmes (even as House) needs to dominate the room by sheer force of personality. Miller can't pull that off. Well, at least he didn't in the pilot. Liu has way more personality. (And I agree, she is a pretty OK Watson, but Watson does need a great Holmes, or you can't really get why Watson sticks with the asshole, brilliant deductions or not.)

You do have a point with the way he was introduced, though, with RDJ introduced first as being awesome. But for me that's also a matter of personality. Downey can pull off being a brilliant charismatic oddball, whether it's Holmes or Stark, because he has the charisma. It's like who plays the Doctor -- regardless of incarnation and variations on personality, it needs to be someone who can walk into any scene and *own* it.

kattahj October 5 2012, 17:31:47 UTC

I loved Gregory House from the get-go, even with the assholery, because he was a)assholery in a fun way, and b)very very charismatic.

Mm, point. I coped with a season and a half of House, so Laurie must have done something right (even if I was mostly in it for Lisa Edelstein).

Liu has way more personality.

Liu is the main reason I bothered in the first place.

The weird thing is, liviapenn just claimed that Miller is less of an ass than the other two, so I don't know what's up or down anymore, because based on the pilot I can't see that at all. (Well, less than Cumberbatch, maybe, but it took me four whole eps to sour completely on Cumberbatch.)

It's like who plays the Doctor -- regardless of incarnation and variations on personality, it needs to be someone who can walk into any scene and *own* it.
Heh, IDK, I've got a soft spot for Five. :-)