Sherlock Holmes, the greatest detective in the world, is one of the most recognizable literary characters. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legacy has been immortalized many times throughout the years in various small and big screen adaptations. One of the more recent and positively reviewed is the 2009 mystery action flick simply titled Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie. Robert Downey Jr. steps into the shoes of the great detective and is set on the momentous task of hunting down Lord Henry Blackwood (Mark Strong), a practitioner of black magic, and the man responsible for the ritual murders of five women. As Blackwood attempts a sixth murder, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) step in and stop the ritual, consequently leading to the
…show more content…
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's version of Sherlock Holmes, every case develops through the eyes of Dr. Watson. Furthermore, all information about Holmes' solitary investigations is only made known to the reader when the detective shares it with his partner. In contrast, there are many sequences in the movie that show Sherlock's actions without them ever being disclosed to the doctor. Additionally, many scenes do not even show Holmes or Watson, instead focusing on other characters and events, such as Lord Blackwood's crimes and Irene Adler's connection to Professor Moriarty. Despite the fact that this deviates significantly from Sir Doyle's works, it seems to be a good choice when it comes to storytelling. It allows Guy Ritchie to present the action in a more linear way, instead of having to jump back and forth between the action and Holmes' explanations, thus making it less confusing for the mass audience. The books work well, however this is probably the better and less repetitive approach when the literature is adapted to the big screen. Therefore, the use of this method is understandable and logical, although it creates a different impression to the one left by the
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's version of Sherlock Holmes, every case develops through the eyes of Dr. Watson. Furthermore, all information about Holmes' solitary investigations is only made known to the reader when the detective shares it with his partner. In contrast, there are many sequences in the movie that show Sherlock's actions without them ever being disclosed to the doctor. Additionally, many scenes do not even show Holmes or Watson, instead focusing on other characters and events, such as Lord Blackwood's crimes and Irene Adler's connection to Professor Moriarty. Despite the fact that this deviates significantly from Sir Doyle's works, it seems to be a good choice when it comes to storytelling. It allows Guy Ritchie to present the action in a more linear way, instead of having to jump back and forth between the action and Holmes' explanations, thus making it less confusing for the mass audience. The books work well, however this is probably the better and less repetitive approach when the literature is adapted to the big screen. Therefore, the use of this method is understandable and logical, although it creates a different impression to the one left by the