What Do Doyle Purists Think of the Sherlock Holmes Film?

[NickThompson]

I'm no Holmes expert, but the impression I got was that it less strays from the source and more emphasises a part of the source that isn't played up much?

[Gail Simone]

It looks godawful.

I have been watching every Jeremy Brett episode and it's killing me to think this portrayal might become the one most people are aware of (Robert Downey, Jr.).

[lonewolf23k]

I'm no Holmes expert, but the impression I got was that it less strays from the source and more emphasises a part of the source that isn't played up much?

That's the impression I'm getting. We're so used to the sanitized, nearly cartoonish version of Sherlock Holmes, that we've all forgotten that in the original stories, Holmes wasn't just an intellectual detective, he was also a formidable martial artist who is strong enough to bend an iron poker with his bare hands — and unbend it again afterwards, the harder task.

[rick]

I'm no Holmes expert, but the impression I got was that it less strays from the source and more emphasises a part of the source that isn't played up much?

That impression would be incorrect.

Granted it's the impression the film makers want you to have, but it just isn't the case.

[Gail Simone]

That's the impression I'm getting. We're so used to the sanitized, nearly cartoonish version of Sherlock Holmes, that we've all forgotten that in the original stories, Holmes wasn't just an intellectual detective, he was also a formidable martial artist who is strong enough to bend an iron poker with his bare hands — and unbend it again afterwards, the harder task.

He just unbent it, someone else bent it in the first place. ;)

Holmes was an extremely good boxer, an excellent shot, very good at stick fighting, and was trained in (if memory serves) "baritsu" which seems to be a misspelling of the actual art, "Bartitsu." That's how he defeated Moriarty at the Falls.

But he was also fastidious about his personal appearance and hygiene, so him running about sweaty and filthy looks a little weird.

[Major Comma]

Gail ,
aside from his fight with Moriarty at the Falls, wasnt his use of martial arts or his boxing skills in the original stories RARE?
The producers of this film are saying that they can make this an action film, because Holmes had all these physical skills that were in the stories .
But he primarily used his intellect and his deductive skills as his main weapon didnt he?

[Vakanai]

Gail ,
aside from his fight with Moriarty at the Falls, wasnt his use of martial arts or his boxing skills in the original stories RARE?
The producers of this film are saying that they can make this an action film, because Holmes had all these physical skills that were in the stories .
But he primarily used his intellect and his deductive skills as his main weapon didnt he?

To be fair, there probably is going to be a lot of deduction and use of intellect in the film.
But that doesn't make for a real exciting preview, does it?

[KevinTBrown]

Based strictly on the previews: Looks like a fair, at best, action flick with loads of explosions, sexed up femme fatales, and naked male booty. But it ain't Holmes. No way, no how. Uh-uh.

And Gail nailed the character about him being "fastidious about his personal appearance and hygiene". Naked and tied up to a bed? No. Sweating it up in a boxing ring? Not unles he was undercover for some reason. Unshaven and dissheveled? Not even close.

The movie may be titled "Sherlock Holmes", but it could also be named "Fred Holmes" and it would be just as accurate.....

[Stressfactor]

Based strictly on the previews: Looks like a fair, at best, action flick with loads of explosions, sexed up femme fatales, and naked male booty. But it ain't Holmes. No way, no how. Uh-uh.

And Gail nailed the character about him being "fastidious about his personal appearance and hygiene". Naked and tied up to a bed? No. Sweating it up in a boxing ring? Not unles he was undercover for some reason. Unshaven and dissheveled? Not even close.

The movie may be titled "Sherlock Holmes", but it could also be named "Fred Holmes" and it would be just as accurate.....

Bingo.

I mean, there are a few stories where Holmes operates in a disguse as a rough person and at least one story ("Hound of the Baskervilles") where he is camping out and therefore cannot live to his normal standards but Doyle was always careful to say that, as soon as possible, Holmes restored his usual, neat appearance.

Also, while Doyle's Watson always SAYS that Holmes could fight readers rarely ever SEE him in a fight. Indeed, he and Watson both carry guns from time to time but it is usually WATSON who ends up holding someone at gunpoint while Holmes explains the situation.

And it was also clear that Holmes was pretty much asexual. He had no interest in most women since he considered most of them intellectually his inferior. The one exception was Irene Adler and it was her MIND that he was impressed with. She beat him AT HIS OWN GAME -- discerining who he was, why he was there, and then even disguising herself and following him undetected -- THAT was what Holmes admired.

The other thing was that Adler herself was portrayed as a rather honorable woman -- and by that I mean she was portrayed as having the same sense of honor that Doyle attributed to the nobler classes -- the idea that her word was her bond and could be trusted as much as that of any well-born man. For the Victorian period that was some high praise! So the idea of her being portrayed in this movie as a sexual tease -- is really distilling the character down to a crude form.

[Spackling Compound]

I am waiting for the tshirts that say "Team Holmes", "Team Watson".....

[Cam63]

Holmes was an extremely good boxer, an excellent shot, very good at stick fighting, and was trained in (if memory serves) "baritsu" which seems to be a misspelling of the actual art, "Bartitsu." That's how he defeated Moriarty at the Falls.

...and here's a photo taken shortly before the event:



The guy in the middle apparently was an innocent bystander.

[Spiffy]

I choke on a lot of uneccesary "updates" to old culture, but for some reason this one intrigues me. I agree that a few things, like Holmes' hygiene, strike a weird chord, but others seem fine. The hat is just a prop, and I suppose we're likely to see it briefly (perhaps some joke about it being ridiculous and being set aside). The sexing up? Well, to be honest, I think Holmes kind of falls into one of those places in history, the Victorian Age, where its... possible. Honestly, it depends entirely on HOW its presented to us, and I don't think we know for sure how that's going to be.

Victorian times are known as a time when people, following the example of their ruler, got very uptight about such things, but at the same time there was a groundswell of naughtiness going on in the culture concurrent with that. It was all about public face and private indulgence. If the sexing up of Holmes and Adler follows that pattern, it would be fine. If it doesn't? Then it might seem ridiculous.

Watson being snarky is fine with me. I can't really see a down-side to it, unless it badly done.

[PatrickG]

Adler?

Darnit. Somehow, I thought McAdams was playing Watson's future wife, going with the Star Trek vibe where it's the "second in command" who's the romantic leading man. I think that formula works very well every time I've seen it because it allows the action lead to act as the juvenile wish fulfillment character. Also because extraordinary people are often alone and lack certain kinds of character depth as a byproduct of their excellence, whereas the more ordinary or restrained comrade of the action lead if often a wealth of depth.

[Corrina]

It seemed clear enough from the previews that it's Irene Adler, which would point to Holmes as a romantic interest.

Gail, I have to disagree on one point. There's no evidence that Holmes was a good shot. In fact, a number of times he tells Watson to bring *his* weapon, leading many Holmesians to speculate that Holmes wasn't a particularly good shot. That, combined with his habit of asking Watson to read his mail, led to more speculation that he was a bit near-sighted. Of course, you can also say that Holmes had Watson read the letters to gauge Watson's reaction. That's part of the fun of the Game.

I don't think Holmes ever boxed on screen. He did get into at least one fight when the villain of the short story sent some thugs after him--but that fight was off-screen. That might have been the Adventure of the Illustrious Client.

Mostly, Downey looks like he's having a bit too much fun. Holmes could enjoy himself and smile and laugh, and he pursued his profession with a great deal of intensity. But it was a Victorian/repressed kind of fun, far closer to Jeremy Brett's Holmes.

[Lester C.]

I haven't read Holmes since I was a kid so I'm looking forward to this film as it was the only trailer I liked when I saw Ninja Assassins. Then again I'm the kind of guy who proudly admits to seeing and loving Ninja Assassins so I'm not sure how much weight my opinion holds here.