Sherlock Holmes - 2009 movie

I wasn't fond of this movie at first. Neither at second, actually. But it's not bad, it's not bad at all; I'm just a bit of a purist. 

 Why this is not a bad Sherlock movie:

- At last Sherlock is shown as a man of action. Most people forget that, contrarily to his brother Mycroft, Sherlock enjoys "legwork", fighting and disguises.

- Holmes' potential in excentricity is used and abused of by R. Downey, who gives him a refreshing touch of mischievous and charming behaviour.

- Watson is shown as a fit man with wits and strenght -an ideal companion for Holmes and a believable ex-army doctor. Bonus: J. Law is (to my point of view) a real treat to the eyes.

- The dialogues are fun, the Holmes/Watson duo has a Flamel-neat alchimy to it, and the movie's visually really cool. 

Why it's not my favourite adaptation of the Canon:

- I don't find Downey believable as Sherlock Holmes. Don't take me wrong, I think he's a good actor. I just don't see him as Sherlock, he's too "concrete" for my taste. Too warm. I've always pictured Sherlock as a cold, analytical person who plays tricks and jokes on others because he finds their emotions so amasingly, hilariously useless he's always almost baffled by they reactions. I picture him as an scientist playing tricks on the world as an experiment, as ice in a mantel of fire. I find Downey is mostly fire. It's not bad, it's just not what I'd like to see. 

Moreover, I like my Sherlock neat. Shaved, not because he likes conventions but because he likes it neat. Of course, an unshaved, dishevelled Sherlock is a good thing sometimes, because who would'nt look like that after spending days experimenting without seing a ray of sun? Appart from non-bearded women, I mean.

But frankly, it's just a question of looks: I don't appreciate Downey as Sherlock because even though he looks smart, he doesn't have the piercing look I expect from Sherlock. Aww, that's not that important, let's move on to more relevant facts.

- Watson is a bit too essential to Holmes -so essential that he overshadows him from time to time. In the Canon, Watson is like a child discovering with pride the brilliant deductions of his fatherly friend. In this movie, Sherlock is the child, and Watson the fatherly figure who tells him to sod off so daddy can make out with mummy Mary, please. But let's say "why not?", it's not that an outrage after all.

- Adler is adventurous, strong and witty, but she's not brilliant as depicted in the Canon. She's not THE Woman. She's a woman, the typical nowadays action movie woman. Sexy and cat-fighting all right. But brainy? No. I don't see her outwitting Sherlock any time (and don't get me started on the wine trick, Sherlock should have seen it coming).

- Sherlock has a kind of sex life. Sexual tension with Adler, sexual innuendoes with Watson... I don't care about Sherlock's sexual (non)-orientation that much, but I care about one thing that almost means the world to me in the Canon: him being married to his work. Him being "a detective" above it all, and not having time to spend on such trivia -yes, sex is mere trivia. Him not being a typical nowadays TV-series detective who's oh so miserable about his private life -Sherlock has no "private life", as his private life is his work. How do you think he became the greatest fictionnal detective until now? Because he defines himself as a detective, not as a puppy-caring guy. He gets his kicks by solving a mystery, he gets off through murder cases and reflection-induced adrenaline. He's not like other humans. 

- The plot is weak. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying it's not that good. It's not as clever, as intricate as I expected from a Sherlock Holmes story plot. It's about magic tricks rather than wits, about showing off rather than manipulating. It isn't subtle, and I like subtlety. Blowing off the Parliament of a catholic country to make a coup d'Etat in the name of the devil? Really? We're dealing with one of the most clever guys in the world, please try giving him a real case! With someone relying on brains rather than power and fear... but I'll guess that'll be Moriarty's place in the next movie. At least I hope so.

To sum up:

No a bad movie, quite a good action movie actually, but adressed to an audience with a much lower degree of expectancy than me -and apparently, an audience that's considered to be not that clever if it is really supposed to think that that movie was about wits and brain power. So... A blockbuster. A good one, but a blockbuster still.

However, it broke the stereotypical image of Holmes and brought most of the essence of this character back on stage, and that my friend, I approve.