| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Sherlock Holmes
Warner Bros. // PG-13 // March 30, 2010
List Price: $28.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Film:
One of the side-effects to an actor emerging in our modern box office climate is that they're usually offered unique ex post facto parts, ones nearly as compelling as their stardom-creating roles that we might've not pictured them in. Viggo Mortensen, following the Lord of the Rings films, became David Cronenberg's right-hand man in his gangster flicks A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, while Leo DiCaprio, by hook or by crook, caught Martin Scorsese's eye after he became "King of the World" in Titanic. Robert Downey Jr.'s rise, however, is his second-coming; after a stint of popularity in the '90s and a crash out of sight, he performed a phoenix's flight in the spit-perfect Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, leading to his rejuvenated leg up as Tony Stark in Iron Man. Following that blueprint of secondary jobs, he's now embodying a role I would've never imagined for him: Sherlock Holmes.
For that matter, director Guy Ritchie also seems an odd fit for the mystery-solving mastermind, with his twitchy, over-caffeinated tone set in the musty alleyways of Victorian-era London. It sounds, well, a bit bizarre; Downey Jr.'s on-edge, quirky talent dropped in the middle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's universe by way of a cinematic tone mirroring Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Somehow, out of the chaotic mess that this picture could've become, Ritchie has assembled a brisk take on the character that's poised and intoxicating, aided by chic musical scoring and a magnetic eye for smoky visuals. Just don't go in expecting much more than a lengthy blend of mystery, character chemistry, and frenzied antics from the film's wired actor/director one-two punch.
As Holmes lurks around a dark corner amid gothic London architecture, he describes how he's going to take out an opponent. A vision of his brutish actions match his speech about floating ribs, paralyzing vocal chords, and the quickness that he knocks out his opponent, photographed nice and slow so that we can see what he's doing. Then, like the crack of a whip, we see the sequence take place at real speed through quick, sharp motions, showing that the detective can also carry himself amid fisticuffs. Though seeing a calculated guy like Holmes might seem a bit off-kilter from the Basil Rathbone or Peter Cushing style of demure ace detective, he's actually made a particular fighting style,bartitsu baritsu, famous for its usage throughout Conan Doyle's novels. This Holmes, Downey Jr.'s Holmes, is disheveled, manic, aggressive, more than a little unhinged and genius aplenty. And his quick-reflex, bare-knuckle spats fit right in with Guy Ritchie's vision of his thoroughly peculiar mannerisms.
The story, which carries a dash of The Hound of Baskerville's supernatural intrigue, offers an interesting slant: after Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson (Jude Law) solve a mystery involving ritualistic murder, they're called back on the case when the convicted and hanged "sorcerer" behind the murders, Lord Blackwell (Mark Strong), comes back from the dead. As they hunt for answers to his unlikely revival, they discover -- through Holmes' detection -- that he's plotting something dire against the city of London. Granted, the story's not really all that much to shake a stick at and suffers from a bit of "franchise start-up" syndrome, but it's enough of an intriguing framework to hold our focus on the picture's draws. Which are, essentially, to soak in Holmes' detection methods, get wrapped up in the thrilling action sequences, and indulge in the back-and-forth dialogue between the two case-solvers and Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), a renowned thief and Holmes' only real weakness of the opposite sex.
Characters are the backbone here, particularly the dynamic struck between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. For all intents and purposes, each of the actors mostly lean on their inherent dramatic allures for their performances; Downey Jr.'s wide-eyed, medicated Holmes spits out quick dialogue in a slightly tailored version of the actor's frenetic disposition, while Jude Law's Dr. Watson could've easily been his character from either The Talented Mr. Ripley, Closer, or Alfie with a period costume and fake mustache slapped on him. When the two of them are on-screen together, acting out playfully suggestive and, at times, flirtatious one-upmanship, it's hard not to get enough of their electricity -- almost like watching an old married couple. And it continues even when Rachel McAdams shimmies into the mix, who, as Irene Adler, offers little in dramatic range beyond a slight clash between her edginess in Red Eye and her coy sweetness from The Notebook.
What makes Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes enveloping is the rendering of a comic-book style London environment for the sharply-paced momentum, dark and dingy like the panels from a Batman book but sporting fine costume design and electric scoring from Hans Zimmer that give it verve underneath the bog. As outlandish action sequences dominate the screen, such as one involving a tall, strapping henchman to Lord Blackwell, heavy chains, and a shipyard that ends with too easy of an abandon, the experience in soaking in Holmes' environment becomes enough to overlook a few tweaked balks at realism. Watching Downey Jr. raid slapdash apothecaries and a pig-butchering farm for clues and such give us memorable sequences amid a few suspenseful chills, all dense with grimly enthralling detail through Philippe Rousselot cinematography -- nodding in generous spats to his work on Interview With the Vampire.
Through musty environments and gussied-up interactions between the main characters, as well as their jocular banter with the likes of Dr. Watson's fiancé (Kelly Reilly) and head Scotland Yard detective Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), Ritchie takes us through a connect-the-dots mystery in Sherlock Holmes made compelling by its blinking focus on realism and the mystical. That's the core to the story's meek intrigue, in watching Holmes piece together Lord Blackwell's mystery with what may or may not be a rational explanation. We're not sure if this environment's even open to the unexplainable or the supernatural, which adds an element of frustration and deception in curious crackerjack minds. In the end, it's the way Ritchie allows the conclusion to colorfully unfold that's important, not so much the conclusion itself; he's solved the big mystery by etching out a new, modern place for Sherlock Holmes' casebook, in an electrifying fashion that satisfies more like the page-flipper suspense books of our modern era instead of Conan Doyle's more profoundly intriguing novels.
The DVD:
Video and Audio:
Enthusiasm isn't exactly high for Warner Brothers' 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, which reminds me a bit of their digitally fumbled attempts at presenting beautiful films like The Painted Veil and The Fountain -- resulting in a barely satisfactory rendering of a visual experience that's a step beyond. Like those aformentioned predecessors, this standard-definition presentation suffers from obnoxious pixelation and macroblocking, which renders muddy detail and some rather unstable black levels, as well as a few instances of aliasing and edge enhancement. The color palette, however, remains mostly in-tact from the way it appeared in the theaters, and the level of contrast does allow for some of the not-quite-black details to peek from darker elements. Philippe Rousselot's cinematography is dark and dense with detail, and the beauty present in his craftsmanship sees the light of day to only marginal degrees. Again, it's little more than a mediocre rendering of a complexly shot film, though the print's clean and the actual look of Guy Ritchie's film remains.
Thankfully, the Dolby Digital 5.1 masks a bit of the disappointment with the visual treatment. Sherlock Holmes is a fairly loud and active film, packed with brusque dialogue, thunderous blasts during fistfights, and clanking metal abound, all fighting against Hans Zimmer's excellently flushed scoring -- all of which gives the audio treatment a lot of attitude. Most of it is powers forward extremely well, with lower-frequency booms during Holmes' calculated hand-to-hand sequences and finely piercing mid-range effects during gunfire, shattering wood, and glass rattling on wood tables when Holmes and Dr. Watson get in a throwdown in the middle of a makeshift apothecary. Verbal clarity, though gruff at times, remains discernible at all points, while Zimmer's score simply sounds fantastic. Subtitles are available in optional English SDH, French, and Spanish text, as are language tracks in all those languages.
Special Features:
Sadly, the standard-definition presentation of Sherlock Holmes has been short-changed in the supplemental department, given only a pretty standard assembly featurette entitled Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented (14:06, 16x9) -- where the Blu-ray received a fully interactive experience, Maximum Movie Mode, that includes storyboards, stills, picture-in-picture, and so forth. In Reinvented, Guy Ritchie offers some interview time and explains the process of bringing Holmes into the modern era, while some nice behind-the-scenes footage clamors into the mix.
Final Thoughts:
Sure, Sherlock Holmes isn't much more than stylish, franchise-ready fare with a line of mystery and a handful of big stars moving around a blunt, somewhat dimensionless storyline. But the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of his cast, especially the link he creates with Jude Law as Dr. Watson, give Guy Ritchie's take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters a lot of charm. Match that with a stampede of engaging, if whimsical, action sequences and some rather impressive production merits that collide into a striking visualization of London, and this romp down Baker St. yields an undeniably invigorating cinematic experience. In short, this Sherlock's a load of great fun that comes with a high recommendation. Warner Brothers' standard-definition offering, however, doesn't earn quite the same marks, showing up with a weak visual transfer and nothing more than a fifteen-minute interview piece. Therefore, this presentation only earns a wobbly Recommendation, while the Blu-ray earns a beefier stamp of approval.
Thomas Spurlin, Staff Reviewer -- DVDTalk Reviews | Personal Blog/Site
One of the side-effects to an actor emerging in our modern box office climate is that they're usually offered unique ex post facto parts, ones nearly as compelling as their stardom-creating roles that we might've not pictured them in. Viggo Mortensen, following the Lord of the Rings films, became David Cronenberg's right-hand man in his gangster flicks A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, while Leo DiCaprio, by hook or by crook, caught Martin Scorsese's eye after he became "King of the World" in Titanic. Robert Downey Jr.'s rise, however, is his second-coming; after a stint of popularity in the '90s and a crash out of sight, he performed a phoenix's flight in the spit-perfect Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, leading to his rejuvenated leg up as Tony Stark in Iron Man. Following that blueprint of secondary jobs, he's now embodying a role I would've never imagined for him: Sherlock Holmes. For that matter, director Guy Ritchie also seems an odd fit for the mystery-solving mastermind, with his twitchy, over-caffeinated tone set in the musty alleyways of Victorian-era London. It sounds, well, a bit bizarre; Downey Jr.'s on-edge, quirky talent dropped in the middle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's universe by way of a cinematic tone mirroring Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Somehow, out of the chaotic mess that this picture could've become, Ritchie has assembled a brisk take on the character that's poised and intoxicating, aided by chic musical scoring and a magnetic eye for smoky visuals. Just don't go in expecting much more than a lengthy blend of mystery, character chemistry, and frenzied antics from the film's wired actor/director one-two punch.
As Holmes lurks around a dark corner amid gothic London architecture, he describes how he's going to take out an opponent. A vision of his brutish actions match his speech about floating ribs, paralyzing vocal chords, and the quickness that he knocks out his opponent, photographed nice and slow so that we can see what he's doing. Then, like the crack of a whip, we see the sequence take place at real speed through quick, sharp motions, showing that the detective can also carry himself amid fisticuffs. Though seeing a calculated guy like Holmes might seem a bit off-kilter from the Basil Rathbone or Peter Cushing style of demure ace detective, he's actually made a particular fighting style,
The story, which carries a dash of The Hound of Baskerville's supernatural intrigue, offers an interesting slant: after Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson (Jude Law) solve a mystery involving ritualistic murder, they're called back on the case when the convicted and hanged "sorcerer" behind the murders, Lord Blackwell (Mark Strong), comes back from the dead. As they hunt for answers to his unlikely revival, they discover -- through Holmes' detection -- that he's plotting something dire against the city of London. Granted, the story's not really all that much to shake a stick at and suffers from a bit of "franchise start-up" syndrome, but it's enough of an intriguing framework to hold our focus on the picture's draws. Which are, essentially, to soak in Holmes' detection methods, get wrapped up in the thrilling action sequences, and indulge in the back-and-forth dialogue between the two case-solvers and Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), a renowned thief and Holmes' only real weakness of the opposite sex.
 |  |
Characters are the backbone here, particularly the dynamic struck between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. For all intents and purposes, each of the actors mostly lean on their inherent dramatic allures for their performances; Downey Jr.'s wide-eyed, medicated Holmes spits out quick dialogue in a slightly tailored version of the actor's frenetic disposition, while Jude Law's Dr. Watson could've easily been his character from either The Talented Mr. Ripley, Closer, or Alfie with a period costume and fake mustache slapped on him. When the two of them are on-screen together, acting out playfully suggestive and, at times, flirtatious one-upmanship, it's hard not to get enough of their electricity -- almost like watching an old married couple. And it continues even when Rachel McAdams shimmies into the mix, who, as Irene Adler, offers little in dramatic range beyond a slight clash between her edginess in Red Eye and her coy sweetness from The Notebook.
What makes Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes enveloping is the rendering of a comic-book style London environment for the sharply-paced momentum, dark and dingy like the panels from a Batman book but sporting fine costume design and electric scoring from Hans Zimmer that give it verve underneath the bog. As outlandish action sequences dominate the screen, such as one involving a tall, strapping henchman to Lord Blackwell, heavy chains, and a shipyard that ends with too easy of an abandon, the experience in soaking in Holmes' environment becomes enough to overlook a few tweaked balks at realism. Watching Downey Jr. raid slapdash apothecaries and a pig-butchering farm for clues and such give us memorable sequences amid a few suspenseful chills, all dense with grimly enthralling detail through Philippe Rousselot cinematography -- nodding in generous spats to his work on Interview With the Vampire.
Through musty environments and gussied-up interactions between the main characters, as well as their jocular banter with the likes of Dr. Watson's fiancé (Kelly Reilly) and head Scotland Yard detective Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), Ritchie takes us through a connect-the-dots mystery in Sherlock Holmes made compelling by its blinking focus on realism and the mystical. That's the core to the story's meek intrigue, in watching Holmes piece together Lord Blackwell's mystery with what may or may not be a rational explanation. We're not sure if this environment's even open to the unexplainable or the supernatural, which adds an element of frustration and deception in curious crackerjack minds. In the end, it's the way Ritchie allows the conclusion to colorfully unfold that's important, not so much the conclusion itself; he's solved the big mystery by etching out a new, modern place for Sherlock Holmes' casebook, in an electrifying fashion that satisfies more like the page-flipper suspense books of our modern era instead of Conan Doyle's more profoundly intriguing novels.
The DVD:
 |  |
Video and Audio:
Enthusiasm isn't exactly high for Warner Brothers' 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, which reminds me a bit of their digitally fumbled attempts at presenting beautiful films like The Painted Veil and The Fountain -- resulting in a barely satisfactory rendering of a visual experience that's a step beyond. Like those aformentioned predecessors, this standard-definition presentation suffers from obnoxious pixelation and macroblocking, which renders muddy detail and some rather unstable black levels, as well as a few instances of aliasing and edge enhancement. The color palette, however, remains mostly in-tact from the way it appeared in the theaters, and the level of contrast does allow for some of the not-quite-black details to peek from darker elements. Philippe Rousselot's cinematography is dark and dense with detail, and the beauty present in his craftsmanship sees the light of day to only marginal degrees. Again, it's little more than a mediocre rendering of a complexly shot film, though the print's clean and the actual look of Guy Ritchie's film remains.
Thankfully, the Dolby Digital 5.1 masks a bit of the disappointment with the visual treatment. Sherlock Holmes is a fairly loud and active film, packed with brusque dialogue, thunderous blasts during fistfights, and clanking metal abound, all fighting against Hans Zimmer's excellently flushed scoring -- all of which gives the audio treatment a lot of attitude. Most of it is powers forward extremely well, with lower-frequency booms during Holmes' calculated hand-to-hand sequences and finely piercing mid-range effects during gunfire, shattering wood, and glass rattling on wood tables when Holmes and Dr. Watson get in a throwdown in the middle of a makeshift apothecary. Verbal clarity, though gruff at times, remains discernible at all points, while Zimmer's score simply sounds fantastic. Subtitles are available in optional English SDH, French, and Spanish text, as are language tracks in all those languages.
Special Features:
Sadly, the standard-definition presentation of Sherlock Holmes has been short-changed in the supplemental department, given only a pretty standard assembly featurette entitled Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented (14:06, 16x9) -- where the Blu-ray received a fully interactive experience, Maximum Movie Mode, that includes storyboards, stills, picture-in-picture, and so forth. In Reinvented, Guy Ritchie offers some interview time and explains the process of bringing Holmes into the modern era, while some nice behind-the-scenes footage clamors into the mix.
Final Thoughts:
Sure, Sherlock Holmes isn't much more than stylish, franchise-ready fare with a line of mystery and a handful of big stars moving around a blunt, somewhat dimensionless storyline. But the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of his cast, especially the link he creates with Jude Law as Dr. Watson, give Guy Ritchie's take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters a lot of charm. Match that with a stampede of engaging, if whimsical, action sequences and some rather impressive production merits that collide into a striking visualization of London, and this romp down Baker St. yields an undeniably invigorating cinematic experience. In short, this Sherlock's a load of great fun that comes with a high recommendation. Warner Brothers' standard-definition offering, however, doesn't earn quite the same marks, showing up with a weak visual transfer and nothing more than a fifteen-minute interview piece. Therefore, this presentation only earns a wobbly Recommendation, while the Blu-ray earns a beefier stamp of approval.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||