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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ****
Till the 1960s, wit in American and British cinema was not an exception but a
rule. Helmed by good writers who were well read and exposed to theatre, the
dialogues as well as scene conceptualization were exemplary. Today, while the
revolution in film cameras, techniques and editing allows one to be visually
witty, when it comes to writing, the quality has gone downhill.
"Sherlock Holmes 2", a film whose writing wit matches its filmmaking
quirkiness, comes as a wily reminder of the times gone by.
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) has been tracking the movements of Professor
Moriarty (Jared Harris) and suspects something big. Meanwhile, Dr. Watson (Jude
Law) is about to get married and Holmes decides to leave him out. But when
Moriarty suggests otherwise, Holmes ends up crashing into Watson`s honeymoon.
But catching Moriarty would be harder than the two imagined for he is the
`Napoleon` of crime and matches Holmes move by move.
In terms of the original stories of Sherlock Homes by Arthur Conan Doyle, this
one resembles "The Final Solution" where Doyle, tired of writing the
Holmes series, wanted to kill him off. The film, however, takes merely its gist
to create one that has less to do with the actual story and its time, than it
has to ours.
Obviously, considering that Moriarty is often considered one of the greatest
villains in literature, his plans had to be hideously sinister.
Writers Michele and Kieran Mulroney manage to wriggle out of the throats of that
era, a story that is believable in its setting despite its grandiose, though
cliched theme of saving the world.
What we thus have is the perfect marriage between good writing and filmmaking. A
kind of film which the masters of the past, had they been exposed to modern
cinematic techniques and quick editing, would have made.
The blending of history and fiction is near perfect. Moriarty`s evil plan is to
plunge the world into a World War. And when Holmes prevents it, Moriarty reminds
him that he has only delayed the inevitable since greedy countries of Europe are
sitting at each others throat, ready to slit it.
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law make the perfect deductive pair as they match
wits with a master criminal. However, the major drawback of the story is in the
character of Moriarty. Though his scheme is sinister enough, it has been done to
death so many times in cinema, that despite its generous peppering of accurate
historical details, it seems cliched.
Secondly, pandering perhaps to popular demand, more time is spend on Holmes and
Watson, than on Moriarty. His cynicism and terror, does not really translate on
screen. Also, the film relies on typical commercial formula of beginning it with
good action, peppering enough dosage of the same throughout and ending it with a
bang.
Though the action sequences are craftily done and the end where Holmes and
Moriarty literally play a game of chess not on the board, but by dictating moves
verbally, is masterly.
Though often, the wit of the film gets overbearing with almost every second line
being a punch-line, Guy Ritchie manages an entertaining fare, a good cinematic
way to end your year. Despite it being predictable for the intelligent and
spectacular for the ones less so.