Finally, the second year of the BBC Sherlock is on Netflix. We streamed Sherlock: Series 2: A Scandal in Belgravia, and to celebrate, got the disc of the second Robert Downey, Jr/Jude Law Holmes series, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
In A Scandal in Belgravia, our modern Sherlock meets up with the woman who will become "The Woman", Irene Adler, played with great erotic power by Lara Pulver. Sherlock's brother Mycroft has summoned Holmes and Watson to Buckingham Palace to get him to retrieve a cellphone with incriminating pictures of a royal personage from her. I am not a confirmed Baker Street Irregular, but I feel that most fans will appreciate the depiction of The Woman. The mystery is a bit incredible, but well within the boundaries of Doyleania.
A Game of Shadows is something different. Downey's Holmes is almost clownish, although he sure can fight. The trick where he analyzes a fight, predicting every move before it occurs and then countering everyone is quite neat. Guy Ritchie can really sell this kind of action. He's not too bad with the slower expository scenes either. But I don't feel that he really got the overall arc of the movie right.
Irene Adler makes an appearance here, played as a blonde by Rachel McAdams. However, she is reduced to a sidekick, and not a very dignified one. She even has a rival, a gypsy played by Noomi Rapace, who has a much better role. Besides, Watson will always come first in Holmes' heart.
Oh, and Steven Fry is Mycroft Holmes. Not a good physical match, as Mycroft was famously corpulent, but his attitude was perfection.
All in all, the Sherlock series is much more solid, although the Ritchie films have their charms. For one thing, Benedict Cumberbatch is such a good Holmes, where Downey is a real stretch. Still, I loved both and look forward to more.
In fact, we've already watched Sherlock: Series 2: The Hounds of Baskerville.
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