# The new Sherlock Holmes film. Boxed spoilers. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2009, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176 "2009-12-22T06:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/81 "2009-12-31T03:57:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > O, the irony!: [The Adventure of the Empty House - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritsu) Actually, I do know all that, which is why I said \*a form of \*jujitsu, which bartitsu was, but it seemed like too much bother to explain. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/82 "2010-01-01T23:48:13Z")
I saw it last night. I liked it, though it was not a great film by any means. My wife thought it was too loud, and too violent (this was payback for _Emma_, by the way). I liked that Watson was a useful companion, instead of the idiotic and bumbling Watsons from other movies. Another nod to the canon was Holmes asking Watson to deduce from the evidence of scratches on a watch, and Watson responding that the owner was probably a drunk. I liked the interchange between Mary, Holmes, and Watson at the dinner, where Mary challenges Holmes to deduce about her, and Watson, knowing that can’t end well, trying to deflect them. I liked the later interchange between Mary and Holmes at the hospital–“Is that the best you can do?” I think that any attempt to make a strictly faithful adaptation of the stories would have fallen short of the Jeremy Brett version. What they decided to do was reasonably faithful to the spirit of the stories, and also a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/83 "2010-01-02T01:39:47Z")
Did anyone else think that the scene with Holmes and Watson, just before or after the irish-gypsy lady reads Watson’s hand that Downey’s accent was off or something? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/84 "2010-01-02T01:57:26Z")
I saw it this afternoon and enjoyed it. I’ve only read _Hound of the Baskervilles_ and some of the stories, but it didn’t seem like a Holmes story. It was an ejoyable film, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/85 "2010-01-02T03:43:40Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Actually, I do know all that, which is why I said \*a form of \*jujitsu, which bartitsu was, but it seemed like too much bother to explain. My point that was in explaining a misspelling, you also misspelled. No biggie. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/86 "2010-01-02T04:46:15Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > My point that was in explaining a misspelling, you also misspelled. No biggie. Damn you, Gaudere! The problem was I really do know what it was supposed to me, which meant that I couldn’t see the typo even when I went looking for it. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/87 "2010-01-02T05:21:33Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I do have to say that Having Holmes deduce that the man in the carriage was a Professor (Moriarty) just because he had chalk on his lapel was a bit of a stretch. I mean, just because someone-especially in the Victorian era- has the title “Professor” doesn’t mean they’re actively teaching, or that if they are, they’re doing it in a classroom with a chalkboard. And wasn’t “professor” often a self-awarded title anyway? Cf. “Professor” Harold Hill and a zillion patent-medicine men. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/88 "2010-01-02T05:52:30Z")
Well purists and “canon” and Jeremy Brett be damned. I just saw it and it is a ripping yarn. Well worth the price of admission. ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/89 "2010-01-02T14:38:57Z")
Well ok then… I saw this last night and my opinion was “meh”. Went to Rotten Tomatoes today and saw that it had a 70%. That surprised me so I immediately decided to come to the Dope and see what people thought. Of course I fully expected Dopers overall not to like it, and I was wrong. Seems as if most of you did think the movie worked. I am not a Holmes expert, my favorite telling of Holmes was the Wishbone version. I just thought the movie was slow and predictable. The person I saw it with fell asleep for most of it. For me, it was definitely a “wish I had waited for the dvd” movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/90 "2010-01-02T15:48:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Damn you, Gaudere! > > The problem was I really do know what it was supposed to me, which meant that I couldn’t see the typo even when I went looking for it. Heheheheh. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/91 "2010-01-03T06:01:27Z")
We went and saw it tonight. It made movies like National Treasure II look serious and fact-based, but it was fun and we enjoyed it. I kept wanting to pin Mary’s hair out of her face and was a bit taken aback at the hookerish dress of the thief girl (come on, heavy makeup _and_ fuschia satin?). Awfully loud. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/92 "2010-01-03T08:31:12Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > We went and saw it tonight. It made movies like National Treasure II look serious and fact-based, but it was fun and we enjoyed it. I kept wanting to pin Mary’s hair out of her face and was a bit taken aback at the hookerish dress of the thief girl (come on, heavy makeup _and_ fuschia satin?). Awfully loud. Irene Adler, who was “on stage”, and during that period, being “on stage” was considered only about a half step up from a hooker. The dress, make up, etc fit the character. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/93 "2010-01-03T14:14:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Irene Adler, What was the deal having her dressed in men’s clothing? Was she in disguise, or did she know she’d be sewer crawling and bridge jumping? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/94 "2010-01-03T15:01:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Irene Adler, who was “on stage”, and during that period, being “on stage” was considered only about a half step up from a hooker. The dress, make up, etc fit the character. I’m not sure that an actress would have worn that kind of outfit and makeup in the middle of the day. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/95 "2010-01-03T17:31:33Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > I am left with only one question. > > How did Holmes figure out that the giant spoke French? He says something in French upon his first entrance. I don’t recall what it was, but it was definitely French. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/96 "2010-01-03T18:11:36Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > What was the deal having her dressed in men’s clothing? Was she in disguise, or did she know she’d be sewer crawling and bridge jumping? > 🙂 Somebody that smart would certainly have read the script before getting dressed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/97 "2010-01-03T18:11:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [Re: Irene Adler] What was the deal having her dressed in men’s clothing? Was she in disguise, or did she know she’d be sewer crawling and bridge jumping? > 🙂 In the one Conan Doyle story in which she appeared, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” she wears men’s clothing at the very end, when she walks past Holmes while he’s on his doorstep, wishes him a good night and disappears into the darkness, unrecognized. So as a disguise and for practicality’s sake, it’s not unprecedented. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/98 "2010-01-03T20:08:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It struck me that Mark Strong, the actor who played Lord Blackwood, is a dead ringer for a younger Stanley Tucci: > > [http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/sherlock\_holmes21.jpg](http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/sherlock_holmes21.jpg) > [http://www.nndb.com/people/805/000043676/stanley-tucci.jpg](http://www.nndb.com/people/805/000043676/stanley-tucci.jpg) I thought that Blackwood was Andy Garcia through the whole thing. The voice was wrong, so I thought it might not be him, but if he hadn’t spoken a word I’d have thought it was him. [http://www.offthepost.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/mark-strong-dimitar-berbatov-andy-garcia.jpg](http://www.offthepost.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/mark-strong-dimitar-berbatov-andy-garcia.jpg) [![](https://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/68/12/16/19012533.jpg) ](https://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/68/12/16/19012533.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/99 "2010-01-03T20:12:26Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > What was the deal having her dressed in men’s clothing? Was she in disguise, or did she know she’d be sewer crawling and bridge jumping? > 🙂 Are you forgetting that she has a sweet sweet ass? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176/100 "2010-01-03T22:02:48Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Have you read the stories? Holmes and Watson are constantly ejaculating at each other. Not only that - but in the restaurant scene, they plainly show Holmes masticating! Horrors! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-sherlock-holmes-film-boxed-spoilers/522176.md?page=6)