Summary
TheSherlock HolmesGuy Ritchie movies and theSherlockBBC drama were both amazing, and while the show was more critically acclaimed than the movies, there are some things that the movies actually did better than the show. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary Sherlock Holmes is a character that is destined to be adapted forever, so it is no surprise that he has been blessed by recent adaptations from some of film and TV’s biggest names. Ritchie made some ofthe bestSherlock Holmesmoviesavailable and, in hindsight, they remain the best Holmes adaptations in a few regards.
Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s inspired modernization of the story was a breath of fresh air. Both worked on theDoctor Whorevival, honing what is arguably the definitive quintessentially British TV show. As such, their adaptation of Doyle’s definitively British story felt almost inevitable, and the result was as expected - an uncanny contemporary embodiment of the Victorian story. Meanwhile, the 2009 and 2011 pictures got the gangster movie treatment from Guy Ritchie, withSherlock 3in progress, and this somehow crystallized the story into perfection in a few ways.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s 15 Best Sherlock Holmes Stories
Arthur Conan Doyle created dozens of stories about Sherlock Holmes, with many still being studied and praised today for their clever storytelling.
10Innuendo
Cheeky One-Liners
TheSherlock Holmesmovies exhibited some of Ritchie’s best innuendo, which set them apart from other adaptations. Gatiss and Moffat were no strangers to snappy one-liners when they pennedSherlock, and the show proves it. However,Robert Downey Jr., as the movies' titular detective, was blessed with some of the cheekiest jokesin Sherlock history. Ritchie’s talent for innuendo held true throughout both the 2009 movie,Sherlock Holmes, and its 2011 sequel,Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
A sequel toSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadowsis being planned, but a release date has not been set yet.
Holmes was handcuffed to a bed by his nemesis-come-love-interest with nothing but a pillow to hide his modesty, and was subsequently discovered by a maid.“Underneath this pillow is the key to my release” were Holmes' unfortunately phrased instructions as to how to free him from the handcuffs he was held in, signaling the whereabouts of the handcuffs' key. This sent the maid packing, and Holmes also nearly sent Watson packing, at one point alluding to the weight he had gained by “noshing on Mary’s muffins, no doubt.”
9French
Holmes Was Multilingual
Holmes was multilingual, which Guy Ritchie’s movies nailed. The French-speaking episodes of Ritchie’s firstSherlock Holmesmovie, released in 2009, presented some of the more ingenious action-movie exchanges in Hollywood. In classic Guy Ritchie style,the movie took its time over fights, with Holmes' relaxed “one moment please” in French giving way to his extraordinary counter move.
This fight was between Dredger and Holmes, and Dredger soon asked for the favor of a momentary pause in the fight to be returned. This allowed another gloriously Ritchie, drawn-out counter to ensue between the henchman andRobert Downey Jr.’s Holmes.Holmes also threw out “quelle surprise”(what a surprise) to excellent effect inSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
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8Boxing
Holmes The Boxer
Sherlock Holmes was actually very physical and trained as a boxer, which Guy Ritchie’s movies got right. Doyle confirmed that Holmes trained as a boxer inThe Adventure of the Gloria Scott, and Holmes brawled inThe Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist, proving his boxing skills.Robert Downey Jr.’s Holmes was far more physically capablethan Benedict Cumberbatch’s.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock aged wellin the context of Doyle’s stories, getting many of the iconic detectives' traits spot-on. That said,Cumberbatch may have captured the detective’s lack of social skills better, with Downey Jr. apparently unable to help having a certain charm. While Downey Jr. may have been charming, his boxing skills were utterly convincing in both movies.
7Urban Decay
A Detailed Victorian London
Sherlock HolmesandSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadowswere gloriously evocative of urban decay in Holmes' canonical Victorian London. This contributed to the sense of space and danger in the notorious crime thriller stories. The London evinced by Gatiss and Moffat was superior in a good many ways, proving why Holmes is timeless, rather than confined to the past, butRitchie communicated urban decay in his own special way.
The London that was being built up in the ramshackle way typical of the Victorian times spoke volumes about the kind of society that Holmes and Watson were dealing with. While industrialization and poverty went hand in hand,Holmes was clearly at the epicenter of a hub of lifeand progress, with numerous problems to solve. In this regard, Ritchie’s cockney gangster movie career was a huge benefit to hisSherlock Holmesadaptations.
6Costume Design
Victorian Fashion Moments
While theSherlockBBC drama had a contemporary setting and therefore necessitated modern clothing,theSherlock Holmesmovieswere set in the age that they were written in. This enabled them to explore a Victorian wardrobe with a Hollywood budget and the panache of the world’s premiere detective.Guy Ritchie gave Holmes a rogueish stylethat spoke to his wealth without denying his outlaw energy - the neck scarf was pure Ritchie.
Subtle steampunk influence seeped into the costume design, creating a Victorian menswear statement with huge relevance to the modern day.
Holmes' black, corduroy coat and rounded black sunglasses were another instance of the movies' prioritizing style along with substance. This subtle steampunk influence seeped into the costume design, creating a Victorian menswear statement with huge relevance to the modern day.This impactful and thoughtful wardrobe gave the movies' costume design an edgeoverSherlock.
5Gothic Horror
Secret Societies And Occult Rituals
Guy Ritchie’s firstSherlock Holmesmovie gave a powerful sense of gothic horror through the machinations of its villain, Lord Henry Blackwood. Both the movies and the TV adaptation were good at portraying the crime thriller nature of the stories, butthis gothic element was uniquely suited to a period drama. The Victorian setting leaned into the occult visuals of the tale.
TheSherlock Holmesbookswere written between 1887 and 1927, over the turn of the century, and encompassed a few different genre traditions that were commonplace at the time.There was an undeniable strand of the gothic in some of Doyle’sSherlock Holmesmoments. Blackwood’s occult ritual, opening the first movie, and the aesthetic of his secret society, were able to put this across.
4Set Design
Impressive Locales
London came thoroughly alive inSherlockandSherlock Holmes, but the big-budget set design of Ritchie’s movies couldn’t help but take the crown in certain places.Ritchie’s set design excelled in its darker moments. The red-headed man pursued by Adler and Holmes worked in a seedy, Victorian lab with immaculate attention to detail. The criminal underbelly came through in these details, with back-street lab equipment telling a sordid tale.
Young Sherlockis in development for Amazon Prime Video, and will tell Sherlock Holmes' origin story.
The golden bathtub in Lord Blackwood’s father’s place was another moment of exceptional design. Lord Chief Justice Sir ThomasRotheram was drowned in his own bathtub, but at least he drowned in style. The golden bathtub, rosewood paneling, and sophisticated marine colors of the floor design amounted to the turn-of-the-century bathroom of dreams, with a villainous atmosphere.
3Cockney Dialogue
Guy Ritchie’s Specialty
If anyone could create fantastic cockney dialogue, it would be Guy Ritchie, so unavoidably, he excelled at embedding this intoSherlock Holmes. InspectorLestrade was the fortunate recipient of the cockney lines inSherlock Holmes, making Eddie Marsan’s Lestrade into a memorable thug. Marsan was the ideal actor for Ritchie’s cockney brilliance, and the combined talents of the two may have created the best Lestrade to grace screens.
Born in Stepney, London, Eddie Marsan truly was born within hearing distance of the Bow bells, making his cockney Lestrade authentic as they come. The idiotic Lestrade of the BBC drama was equally hilarious, butRitchie’s gangster movie influence gave Lestrade an unpleasantnessthat suited the character well. Overall, cockney dialogue was one area in which the movies surpassed the BBC drama.
2Cinematography
Gorgeous Photography
Sherlock HolmesandSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadowsboth had stunning cinematography, which set them apart in the long list ofSherlock Holmesadaptations.Sherlock, on the BBC, gave a beautifully real idea of modern-day London’s winding streets and history, which can’t be reduced by any amount of Hollywood cinematography. And yet,Ritchie’s movies gave viewers some flawless shotsthat will go down in history as some of the finest in the detective story’s on-screen existence.
Young Sherlockwill star Hero Fiennes Tiffin, who was in Ritchie’sThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,as Sherlock Holmes.
The parting shot of 2009’sSherlock Holmeswas horribleand wonderful at the same time. After the movies' dialogue had just confirmed how far from the rope Blackwood was, the villain was swung off a construction site and fatally hung from a chain, dangling cinematically from the middle of the bridge. The murky grayness of the Thames was the perfect backdrop for Blackwood’s untimely end.
1Action Scenes
Hollywood-Style Action
Guy Ritchie brought Sherlock Holmes' story to Hollywood and gave it the action movie treatment, in keeping with the gangster movies that have been Ritchie’s bread and butter. Doyle’s detective stories were crime thrillers, not action stories, necessarily. However, Ritchie’s interpretation played into some of the key themes of the narrative.
The movies' fight choreography was utilized to great effect in Holmes' boxing scene and the opening ofSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Holmes was shown to be winning fights with his brains, as well as his brawn. The barrels exploding inSherlock Holmesmade for a dramatic action scene that spoke to the danger Holmes faced in his pursuits. Ritchie’s action scenes are some of the best examples of his suitability to helm aSherlock Holmesadaptation, which he proved again and again.
Sherlock Holmes
Cast
Sherlock Holmes, released in 2009, features Robert Downey Jr. as the iconic detective and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson. This film follows the dynamic duo as they confront a formidable adversary and work to prevent a catastrophic scheme threatening the stability of England.
