Change Your Image
coxeter11
Reviews
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
out of step ...
... me, i imagine, not the movie. the modern movie viewer obviously likes this "edgy, action-packed, gratuitously violent" junk because it permeates the screen these days. i knew i was in trouble after five minutes in my seat watching the previews of soon-to-be-released movies -- all pubescent shoot-em-up, blow-em-apart nonsense. i might have given it three stars except for the obvious set up for the sequel "Sherlock Holmes Two: Moriarty Teaches Calculus Badly."
ugh.
let's see ... too loud, too exaggerated, too violent, too edgy, too much.
i'm tired of looking at actors standing in front of computer generated screens. at some point, maybe modern audiences will stop saying "oooh aah," and look for some artistry.
one could hardly call this a
**spoiler alert**
as the next remake of "Bambi" will, no doubt, contain the obligatory checklist of "action-packed adventure" scenes, but i'm really tired of fight clubs, explosions, burning bodies, slow motion mutilation of human faces, etc.
if they can actually sit through it, Arthur Conan Doyle fans will enjoy the variety of allusions to his work. i had fun picking out lines and, during the too infrequent scenes where people were actually trying to talk to one another, noting traces of character in the characters. at times there was a glimmer of rapport between Holmes and Watson (Irene Adler was weak, the rest of the cast cardboard cutouts). unfortunately, i suspect Arthur Conan Doyle fans will be spending most of their time cringing.
please, do yourself a favor, if you really have an interest in the Holmes stories and, if you haven't done so already, read "a study in scarlet" and "the adventures of Sherlock Holmes." then go rent a few of the Granada television adaptations with Jeremy Brett and David Burke. you will enjoy some first-rate detective stories; well-written, well-adapted, and well-acted. i know that's where i'm headed right now to get that nauseating taste out of my mouth from bad popcorn and a bad movie.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
a fine story, a fine cast ...
so, why only seven stars?
this cast is excellent. a combination of surprising newcomers and reliable "old-timers" upon whom one can count.
in the future, watch the newcomers to see how they fare. keep watching the established actors, they haven't lost a step.
so, why only seven stars?
these are personal tastes, so forgive me. i, like many other reviewers here, have seen and loved this story in times past:
cutting 'the ballad of sweeney todd' ...
*** Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd His skin was pale and his eye was odd He shaved the faces of gentlemen Who never thereafter were heard of again He trod a path that few have trod Did Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. ***
took away from impact ... cut out the chorus of aeschylus. and set me to look for what would take its place in the story.
more substantive to me was the over-digitization of the production. i think we are in a stage in movie-making a bit like the era of transition from silent to "talkies." i much prefer real people in real settings with real smoke coming from real chimneys with real buildings, etc. if a movie is to be animated, then animate it. it seems to me that our movie-makers do not quite know how to intelligently incorporate this new technology. but, perhaps my age is showing ...
then, the gratuitous blood. i know, i know, that is what the story is about. that is what modern cinema is about, again i show my age. why, for example, in 'the departed' must we see absolutely everyone's brains splattered on the screen? is it absolutely necessary for me to see in glorious color, and in striking close view, the slitting of each of these throats? stay with me on this one ... the stage productions, or productions that dare to suggest rather than splash are, to me, much more powerful. i'm fine with gore (i guess) but when it is gratuitous, with no return benefit, no compensation in plot, emotion, feeling, or meaning ... then why?
and finally, as has been noted before, there is a diminution of the comedy in the story. there are many places where a chuckle could have replaced a groan.
if you've only seen the movie and if you can, get a copy of 'sweeney' starring angela lansbury (http://imdb.com/title/tt0084747/) in the stage production. reevaluate the story and see if you might not enjoy it even more than this good attempt.