Sherlock (the BBC miniseries) and Sherlock Holmes (the Guy Ritchie film) have been on my mind a lot of late (as my tumblr and anyone who knows me will testify to).
I could talk about either of them for forever, but rather than post separately reviewing them, I thought I’d talk more about how wonderful it is that the text is rich and versatile enough to support multiple interpretations running at the same time.
Having not read the canon (I know, I know! It’s on my list) I can’t talk extensively about the integrity of these depictions to the original text (my only opinions are reflections of other people’s).
I can, however, talk about the intricacy of the BBC miniseries; the detail that goes into every episode, the clever twists, the heart-wrenching emotions, the way Moffat and Gatiss orchestrate it magnificently (much like Moriarty did in the final episode).
And I can talk about the pure fun that came with Game of Shadows; it seems to deviate more from the text and plot and characters, and probably has more inconsistencies, but has so much chemistry and heart that it kind of makes up for it. RDJ and Jude Law were made to act together, and the Hans Zimmerman soundtrack provides enough majesty to float any work.
Both of the current productions have exquisite filming, believable character interactions, and deal with the same stories in entirely different ways.
I’m personally more of a fun of the miniseries (a trend seemingly consistent with most of the discerning fans), for how purely clever it is. Every action has layers of reasoning behind it, and every episode improves with rewatching (only then can you make out some of Sherlock’s thought process).
Both productions bring the characters to life, highlighting different personality aspects, and the BBC in particular ports the stories to the current era mindbogglingly well.
I love both of them for the way the make the world of Sherlock Holmes painfully real; be it in a fabulously gay, action-filled explosion way, or through incorporating and embracing the technology era, and playing with the visual typographic medium.
I haven’t stopped gushing about them since, well, a month ago. Perhaps you should go and watch them for yourselves, if you haven’t already.
