Now, on first blush, I would think that Downey would be an inspired bit of casting for Holmes; the right blend of edgy, comedic and ridiculously talented. He was great in Chaplin, rocked Iron Man, and is generally building up a fine body of work. He is, in my opinion, past due for one of those little gold guys they hand out every March in Hollywood. I just checked Mr. Ritchie's resume at IMDB, and I haven't seen anything he's done. I have, at least, heard of one or two of the films. So he is an unknown quantity at the moment.
Like a lot of people, I spent a chunk of my young adulthood devouring the Holmes stories. While the corpus of Arthur Conan Doyle's best-known creation is largely in my rear view mirror, I still have a warm place in my heart for the characters of Holmes, Watson, and yes, even Inspector Lestrade. So I naturally have been following news of this latest rendition of the Holmes classics, and was happy indeed when I stumbled across the new trailer for the film online.
I was a little less happy after actually watching said trailer. If you haven't seen it yet, by all means, go to the page on the Apple trailers site and give it the once-over before you read the rest of this post. Go ahead — I'll wait.
Hollywood is increasingly becoming a town built on formulas and recycled ideas, of which the latest is the "franchise reboot." It is a direct descendent of the "franchise" concept, which grew out of the sequel mania that followed Star Wars. It presupposes that the film will be popular and palatable enough to film goers for them to want to revisit the characters. When this is no longer the case, you do a reboot, and try to make some more money off of it.
In the reboot, you take a property that has been a consistent performer that has, of late, become somewhat stale and predictable. In other words, it's not making money anymore. Then you put a fresh coat of paint on it, cast all new actors, maybe spin it in a new direction, and drag all of the characters back to square one to begin their adventures again. Some very well done examples of the reboot include Batman, James Bond and Star Trek. All of these reboots were, in their first incarnation at least, extremely well done, critically acclaimed and financially successful, so it's a very hot concept in Hollywood right now. Especially because of the money part.
So its no surprise that one of the most popular episodic characters in all of fiction, and a strong box office performer back in the day, should now be dragged through the "reboot" machine. Downey is putting his own spin on the Holmes character, including repeatedly appearing with a three-day growth of beard (which I think is very un-Holmsian) and eschewing the famous deerstalker in favor of a black period hat (which I am completely in favor of — the deerstalker needs to die for the character to be taken as anything more than a caricature by modern audiences). As an actor, this is his right, nay, his duty, and I expect no less of him. We would not expect every Hamlet to be the same with each actor — that would be boring. Why then should we expect it of Holmes? I have every confidence in his abilities as an actor, and I still think he'll make a fine Holmes.
But just as Sir Basil Rathbone, arguably the greatest large-screen Holmes ever, had to contend with a comic-relief Watson and forgettable pastiche plots, Downey looks like his portrayal might be overshadowed by the modern Hollywood affection for action and explosions. The roughly two-minute trailer I saw featured at least one explosion, two scenes of Holmes kicking Victorian butt, some gun play, and a character who is ostensibly supposed to be Irene Adler prancing around in front of Holmes in her unmentionables (which both my wife and I think is preposterous). In other words, it seems to be trying to reassure modern audiences that they will have all of the elements they need in a good blockbuster — explosions, fight scenes and sex.
I would have been happier if I had some reassurance that the hallmarks of what the Holmes stories great — strong characters and mind-twisting puzzles — were present as well. For now, I'm just going to take it on faith that these will will be found amid all the fireballs and partial nudity, and hold my breath.
The good news is that the film in question debuts during the Christmas holidays, at a time when my fellow Holmes aficionado, the Veiltender, may be visiting. If so, he, my wife and I will have a chance to peruse it together. And, if I am any judge, complain about it together.
Because, tongue firmly in cheek, isn't complaining with loved ones what the holidays are all about?
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