Mary Platt presents the Sherlock Holmes adaptation from Warner Brothers starring Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law. Detailed overview covering the first two films. Presenting online from California Mary is a Holmes expert who teaches at Chapman University.

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Mary Platt
Chapman
University,
Calif.
The “Big Three”
- Let’s
Celebrate the
Differences
Warner Brothers

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What’s Great…..
•The acting. The characters of Holmes and Watson and the
Holmes-Watson relationship. The other carefully drawn
characters.
•The beautiful Victorian setting and all-around extraordinary
craftsmanship of both movies.
•Best-ever depiction in popular film of an England on the verge of the modern.
•The lovingly respectful interweaving of canonical elements into new and compelling
stories.
•The action elements, which open up the story to a huge global audience that otherwise
might never be interested in Sherlock Holmes.
•They’ve introduced Sherlock Holmes to, at last estimate, more than 300 million people
worldwide through theatrical screenings, DVD, cable/TV, and (yes) illegal copies (which
still count) – FAR more than any other Holmes adaptation in history.
•They were the catalyst for the current Sherlock Holmes revival.

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Holmes and Watson
•Downey and Law’s onscreen chemistry has been remarked
on by almost every critic. Two of the most acclaimed actors
in the world.
•Downey may not be the physical “type” of the canon Holmes,
but he makes audiences believe in him.
•Downey’s Holmes “sees everything” – and the actor makes it touchingly clear it’s both
Holmes’s blessing AND his curse.
•Law’s Watson is the first to defy the “old and bumbling” stereotype – he’s badass,
capable and a full partner to Holmes.
•The reason we still watch Sherlock Holmes after 150 years is BECAUSE of the always-
interesting friendship of Holmes and Watson – not really the cases. That friendship and
its emotional resonance makes audiences care about both films.
•And we can’t ignore: Could they be the first UN-ambiguously gay heroes in a global
blockbuster movie?

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Movie Craft

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The Canon
• Irene Adler
• James Moriarty
• Sebastian Moran
• Inspector Lestrade
• Mrs. Hudson
• Mycroft Holmes
• 221B Baker Street
• Disguises
• The violin
• Explosions and fisticuffs
• Martial arts (baritsu/bartitsu)
• Reichenbach Falls
• Quotes from the canon anchor almost every important scene
• Holmes’s devotion to justice (and Watson)

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A good contribution
to the Holmesian legacy?
FOR •AGAINST
• Highly entertaining/ripping great action yarns
• Compelling depiction of Holmes-Watson
friendship
• Charismatic/complex Holmes and first really
badass Watson
• Truly frightening Moriarty
• At once respectful of canon and cheekily
subversive
• Ditches deerstalker/outmoded visual clichés
• Magisterial depiction of 19th
-century London
and Europe
• Action-adventure format intros Sherlock
Holmes to new audiences
• Most popular Holmes franchise in history
• Launched current Holmes renaissance
• Downey plays against canonical physical
“type” of Holmes
• Guy Ritchie lo-o-o-ves his giant guns
• Too much brawling and stuff exploding
• “Victorian action heroes”
• Gay subtext (or…text) might offend
traditionalists
• Not cerebral – too much action – not enough
deducing
• “Holmes-o-vision” somewhat overplayed
• Silly comic interludes (Shetland pony, “urban
camouflage,” Holmes in drag)
• They killed Irene (…or did they?)

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To sum up...
• Most popular and influential Sherlock
Holmes adaptation worldwide
• Catalyst for the current Holmes revival era
• Outstanding cast
• The emotional resonance and chemistry of
the friendship is paramount
• Lovingly crafted, respectfully canonical
adaptation – with many twists and
originalities
• Finest Sherlock Holmes ever in the action-
adventure format