Thinking back on it, I think that the movie was written by and for serious Holmes fans. For instance, those of us who are familiar with the "patriotic VR" adorning the walls of 221-B now know exactly WHY Holmes was shooting at the wall that day, and finally get to see Mrs. Hudson's reaction (didn't you always wonder what she thought was going on in that apartment?). But newbies will be left wondering, "What the heck does VR mean?"
Remember that picture of Irene Adler that Holmes kept? Every time Irene shows up at the door, he nonchalantly turns it face down so she won't see it. I imagine that little bit of business would be completely lost on people who weren't familiar with the stories. There's tons of stuff like that. Even his later interest in bee biology is foreshadowed by an interesting experiment with flies (and I'm pretty sure that the stuff he was drinking that made the fly experiment so fascinating was belladonna, which we know he had lying around his apartment).
But make no mistake - this is a deliberate and self-conscious updating to a modern genre - I guess you could call it Steampunk Comic Book. It seems to take place on a planet where everybody is about 50% stronger than they are on ours, where injuries heal overnight and outrunning explosions is only a little harder than getting across a busy street against the light. It's not exactly a LITERAL translation of the original works. But it certainly isn't a mindless one.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-02-06 04:19 pm (UTC)Remember that picture of Irene Adler that Holmes kept? Every time Irene shows up at the door, he nonchalantly turns it face down so she won't see it. I imagine that little bit of business would be completely lost on people who weren't familiar with the stories. There's tons of stuff like that. Even his later interest in bee biology is foreshadowed by an interesting experiment with flies (and I'm pretty sure that the stuff he was drinking that made the fly experiment so fascinating was belladonna, which we know he had lying around his apartment).
But make no mistake - this is a deliberate and self-conscious updating to a modern genre - I guess you could call it Steampunk Comic Book. It seems to take place on a planet where everybody is about 50% stronger than they are on ours, where injuries heal overnight and outrunning explosions is only a little harder than getting across a busy street against the light. It's not exactly a LITERAL translation of the original works. But it certainly isn't a mindless one.