Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Books / Film This Is the Trailer for Sherlock Holmes
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, May 19, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Here is the trailer for the Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams:
It's interesting that most of the interviews about this movie thus far have claimed that they're even truer to the Holmes books than the old Basil Rathbone movies. I don't recall Holmes getting hit in the nuts in any of Doyle's books, but still: I have to say, this looks like a lot of fun. After Ritchie's last abomination of a film, I didn't think I'd want to see anything by him ever again. But a combination of Downey's charm and Rachel McAdams in sexy old-timey British lingerie has put this at the top of my must-see list.
2
This looks stupid as hell. It's like Wolverine: The Olde-Timey London Mutant Story. And that would probably be a better movie than this.
3
Most of it looks pretty great, although I hope it's not as campy as the trailer makes it look. Just one thing--the swoosh sound as Holmes dashes away?! Please tell me that's not in the movie. Sheesh.
13
I'm not sold. Generally I like Robert Downey Jr., but I'm not digging him has Holmes. His accent in the few snippets wasn't believable. Also his mannerisms made him seem drunk rather than a razor sharp intellect.
I've got a bad feeling that a giant mechanical spider is going to show up in the 3rd act.
I've got a bad feeling that a giant mechanical spider is going to show up in the 3rd act.
14
It doesn't mean much to say that a new Sherlock Holmes movie is truer to the original stories than the Basic Rathbone ones. I recently watched "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon" in which Rathbone's Holmes defeats the Nazis by preventing Moriarty from getting his hands on a revolutionary bomb sight. It had almost nothing to do with the Arthur Conan Doyle story "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," on which is was supposedly based. If you want authenticity, watch the Jeremy Brett series that was shown on PBS.
15
Ahhh, but is it really true to the stories and feature regular injections of cocaine and morphine?
18
@17 Yep. Brett somehow embodies the vaguely homosexual, speedball addicted, razor sharp brilliance of Homes. It's kind of sad to see Holmes stories simplified into and "action pic". Holmes is a man of action, but virtually the opposite of an action hero.
19
Rocknrolla wasn't that bad. It was way better than that piece of shit Revolver. That Madonna movie too. Then again, Phantom Menace was way better than Revolver.
20
@14,17,18 Agreed. Brett was the definitive Holmes.
@Constant:
"It's interesting that most of the interviews about this movie thus far have claimed that they're even truer to the Holmes books than the old Basil Rathbone movies."
What's interesting about that to me is that the Rathbone series is the standard of comparison for so many reviewers. The PBS series was a pretty big deal for BBC, and it really is the best yet made.
@Constant:
"It's interesting that most of the interviews about this movie thus far have claimed that they're even truer to the Holmes books than the old Basil Rathbone movies."
What's interesting about that to me is that the Rathbone series is the standard of comparison for so many reviewers. The PBS series was a pretty big deal for BBC, and it really is the best yet made.
23
Goddamn.... when are producers gonna stop using choruses of Orff-like sound??? It is sooooo old already.
Just shut off all the music and go for blessed silence and dialog.
Just shut off all the music and go for blessed silence and dialog.
24
Agreed that Jeremy Brett is the definitive Holmes. Those ancient Basil Rathbone movies were awful; why bring them into the conversation? Robert Stephens in "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" was superior to Rathbone.
I like RDJ well enough, but this preview looks campy, ridiculous, and not the least bit true to the spirit of the original characters. Why couldn't Richie have made a action comedy about some other fictional Victorian detective and not Sherlock Holmes??
I like RDJ well enough, but this preview looks campy, ridiculous, and not the least bit true to the spirit of the original characters. Why couldn't Richie have made a action comedy about some other fictional Victorian detective and not Sherlock Holmes??
25
@23: I know. I watched this on mute, and I could still practically hear the heavy choir and repetitive, angsty strings. This trailer is definitely one example of a certain action movie type. Here is how it always goes:
*Starts out with lots of fade ins and fade outs to set up the characters and action
*Quick cuts between fights and explosions
*Some T&A teasers
*A couple of two-second character bits
*More explosions, quicker and quicker cuts
*The title animation
*A post-climax extended shot (depending on the movie, either a melodramatic pronouncement of doom or a sight gag)
And for some bizarre reason, almost all of the trailers for science fiction / adventure movies borrow cues from the Stargate soundtrack.
*Starts out with lots of fade ins and fade outs to set up the characters and action
*Quick cuts between fights and explosions
*Some T&A teasers
*A couple of two-second character bits
*More explosions, quicker and quicker cuts
*The title animation
*A post-climax extended shot (depending on the movie, either a melodramatic pronouncement of doom or a sight gag)
And for some bizarre reason, almost all of the trailers for science fiction / adventure movies borrow cues from the Stargate soundtrack.
26
And what about the movie The Seven Per-Cent Solution? That would seem like a better standard for comparison than the much older Basil Rathbone movies.
27
Okay, I watched it with the sound. And now I seriously want to kick Guy Ritchie in the balls for making this shit.
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