Joe Brody
Well-known member
The Man said:
That poster screams League of Extraordinary Gentlmen, but everything I've seen about the film seems more like Mary Reilly-ish production value.
The Man said:
Sometimes, ShoWest does pull out a few unexpected surprises, and while it was always known that Warner Bros. President and COO Alan Horn would be giving the welcome remarks at the State of the Industry Update, he used his time to also give a preview of some of Warner Bros.' upcoming movies, including showing the first footage of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams.
An even bigger surprise was the actual presence of Downey, who took a break from preparing for Iron Man 2 to introduce the footage to the theater owners in the audience. After coming out to applause and being hugged by Horn, Downey Jr. joked that Horn hugs him every time he sees him now though that it wasn't always that way.
It opens with eerie music and shadowy scenes of Victorian London and we see a shot of Downey's Holmes running down a spiral staircase and another of him smoking his trademark pipe as a voice-over tells Holmes that he needs to "widen his gaze" because he's underestimating the "gravity of coming events." The voiceover tells Holmes that at the dawn of the new day, the world as he knows it would end, to which Holmes responds playfully, "Well, there isn't any time to waste then" and he jumps out the window.
We get a brief glimpse of Eddie Marsan's Inspector LeStrade saying something about someone seeing Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong's villain in the film) rising from the grave, and Holmes is asked to find and stop him, which Holmes claims will "take every ounce of my not inconsiderable experience." To that, LeStrade comes back with a slam about it maybe being a hobby to Holmes, but that he does it for a living. (This confirms what Marsan told us last year about their working relationship not being a particularly friendly one.)
Holmes says that he needs to have someone with him that he can thoroughly trust, at which point we see him greeting Jude Law's Dr. Watson and we get a bit of the rapport between them, as the two of them squabble about the things roommates normally argue over, Law complaining about Holmes playing the violin late at night and his "lack of hygiene."
After that, we get a bit of the interaction between Holmes and Rachel McAdams' Irene Adler, as they scuffle, her pulling out an ornament from which sharp blades jut out to threaten Holmes. That interaction ends with him left chained to a bed. Watson finds him in that state and asks, "Holmes, does your depravity know no bounds?" to which Holmes replies, "No." (Later we see Adler in a very sexy outfit, as McAdams' credit is shown.)
Another scene shows Holmes facing a much larger opponent, who looked like Nathan Jones, the giant from the opening of Troy, atop what looked like a clock tower. Jones is wielding an enormous sledgehammer while Holmes is carrying just a standard everyday hammer, which he promptly throws at the giant hoping that would do some damage. (It doesn't, and the giant attacks.) This scene got a huge laugh from the audience.
There was a quick-cut montage of more action scenes before a scene where a maid walks into a room and screams, dropping the tray she was carrying. We cut to Downey chained to a bed naked except for a pillow covering his genitals, and he asks her to remain calm and that under the pillow is the "key to his release" and the shocked woman runs out screaming.
Bjorn Heimdall said:Why has Andy Garcia changed his name to Mark Strong?
Hawkeye said:I'm a Sherlockian, but not to the point where I can't appreciate or accept anything that changes some details about the characters. I'll definitely be seeing this when it comes out on X-mas. The scene with Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, when she's wearing that skimpy outfit... Oh man, that alone is worth the price of admission.
Bjorn Heimdall said:Why has Andy Garcia changed his name to Mark Strong?
Hawkeye said:I'm a Sherlockian, but not to the point where I can't appreciate or accept anything that changes some details about the characters.
avidfilmbuff said:...I don't know what obsession people have with Irene Adler...
Rocket Surgeon said:She's a strong female character, whose aptitude and acumen eclipses those of at least one king.
I think that's reason enough...