From Pete's World: "Sherlock Holmes" and "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"

Even though I saw the fantastic Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes (which was when it came out) before I saw him in Iron Man (which was less than a month ago), to a certain extent I can't help but see the RDJ Sherlock movies as Tony Stark a having created time travel. But then again, there's a lot I chalk up to time travel these days.

The RDJ Sherlock movies are possibly better than both Elementary and Sherlock and it must be said that it did come out before either of those series started, having been released Christmas day in 2009 (Yes, the day we began to loose David...) They are set in the Victorian era, as per the original novels/short stories. The costuming is superb, as is the set design. Musically, the score is very similar to Sherlock, which I like.

The dynamic between Holmes and Watson (Jude Law) is the main development point in the first film, although the plot is captivating as well. Also introduced in the first move are Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), Mary Morston/Watson (Kelly Reilley), DI Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), and at they very end, Moriarty (Jared Harris).

Moriarty is the main focus of A Game of Shadows, and the ending is the same as "The Reichenbach Fall," down to the point that Sherlock did, in fact, survive. Unlike Sherlock, there has been no third instalment, although Jude Law has confirmed another one!

What the two films do masterfully is not model the books. They borrow the characters and their dynamics, and certain story elements like the "death" of Sherlock and Moriarty in the Reichenbach, but, as far I can tell, the plot lines are not directly modelled off the novels/short stories, as the plots are in Sherlock and to a certain extent Elementary are. What this does is makes it so that even if you know the original canon, you can't predict the resolution of the plot. The element is mystery is still there while you can enjoy the chemistry between the characters.

Comedy is also excellently executed in both films, even though they both have very serious, dramatic elements. One of the running jokes, so to speak, is that Holmes keeps experimenting on Gladstone, the dog Sherlock and John shared while living at 221b (the first film starts the day John moves in with Mary) and it always appears that the dog has died, where as he actually has not.

Overall, both of these films get 4.5 stars. The loss of that half star is from the fact that, in the second movie especially, there are scenes with elongated fire-fights in them, which I personally find dull and repetitive. Anyone who enjoys the ACD novels/short stories, Sherlock, Elementary, or even that other Sherlock Holmes movie I wrote about must watch these two films!

PS. Stephen Fry is Mycroft. Enough said.

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