Le Saboteur said:
CBS has officially picked up Elementary for their fall line-up.
And I sort of wish they left it on the shelf to gestate some more. Which might seem harsh, but as a Sherlockian of Absolutely No Regard, I expect to see The Great Detective on the screen; this incarnation wouldn't seem out of place in an episode of
Law & Order. Still, I welcome any addition to the corpus.
Johnny Lee Miller & Lucy Liu are worth a watch for their chemistry alone, but beyond that
Elementary is...well, a mixed bag. Where the BBC draws heavily on Doyle's original stories, the pilot episode of
Elementary played like a rejected script from that aforementioned
Law & Order. Most damning though is the fact that many of Holmes' analyses & deductions are rote, and the resolution has absolutely nothing to do with Holmes' genius. All of this can go away though; it's just a matter of waiting and seeing. For now though, I would watch it with a generosity of spirit.
Did I weigh in on
Game of Shadows? I don't remember, but I enjoyed this one far more than the original. Especially once that child impersonating The Woman finally exited the stage. Jude Law & RDJ are more comfortable in the roles, and everything has been given an extra degree of refinement and, I dare say, excitement. Mark Strong was a quite capable villain in the original outing, but I really enjoyed Harris' take on Moriarty.
By the way, Attila, my original concern has proven correct: for the Napoleon of Crime, Moriarty's designs are awfully prosaic. I expected better. Though, there are some great moments between the two that help to make up for it.
I nominate Arsene Lupin for the inevitable third film's villain. Who? For non-francophiles, check out this trailer. He's the French equivalent of Holmes.
And where's Toby?
Attila the Professor said:
The Baskervilles adaptation is the least of the three, but their treatment of The Final Problem ends up being quite excellent. Give them a shot.
Which seems to be the starting of a trend; both of the middle episodes thus far have been the weakest of their respective seasons. For me though, the second episode of Season 1 is the weakest of the six on file. Conversely,
A Scandal in Belgravia is the ne plus ultra. I don't think they'll be able to top it. Agreed on their treatment of
The Final Problem. I prefer the traditional ending, but Moffat & Co. handled it superbly.