Abject Geekery

I got a chance to watch Sherlock Holmes this weekend and it was much better than I had thought it was going to be. Robert Downey Jr. is a brilliant character actor, and he hasn’t shined this brightly since his Oscar worthy work in Chaplin. Jude Law give his best and makes the amiable Dr. Watson a compellingly entertaining wing man for the eccentric Holmes.

This is not the Great Detective of the Sir Arther Conan Doyle works, nor is it similar to the older film adaptions of his works.  How to describe it…

Consider  the FOX show House. It is completely inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Even the name “House” is a play on Holmes…or Homes. Gregory House’s best friend and ruthless banter-foil is Dr. Wilson… for Dr. Watson. The idea of the show House is to put the brilliant deductive mind of Sherlock Holmes toward the mysteries of medicine, as opposed to criminality. But that is as much a pretense for exploring and celebrating the eccentricity of such a brilliant mind… a mind that struggles to fight off the boredom of the tedious world. The back and forth pranks and banter between House and Wilson are what keeps House grounded and interested in his own humanity.

Now consider this new Sherlock Holmes film. It is House and Wilson… returned to the Detective business… and fighting grand villains instead of diseases. They are brilliant in the tools of that trade… both in deduction and pugilist arts. In fact, the scenes where Holmes mentally plays out the martial combat strike by strike, with thought given to each injury he will inflict on his opponents… as well as deductions for how long they will be incapacitated or hospitalized… are pure Frank Miller’s Batman.

Guy Richie has had a mixed career as a director… but I have to hand it to him on this one. Each scene was well crafted and he knew how to get the best work out of his cast. It would be perfect if the end exposition didn’t remind me so much of the end of a Scooby-doo cartoon. Even so… Sir Arther really is the architect of that device, so it can be forgiven.