The Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes flick was IMO actually watchable for Sherlockians. The double-entendres were understated enough you could ignore them if you chose. But yeah, despite lots of nods to Literary Agent Conan Doyle’s work, the overall effort had about as much to do with the Canon as this awesome version of “Baker Street.” Which rocks.
Can’t forget “Calle Ocho.”
Oh, and here’s my wife’s current favorite:
The Wife says that she’s read in one of her numerous media rags that Brad Pitt will very likely be playing Moriarty.
They’ll be able to power Britain just by hooking up a generator to Jeremy Brett’s feet as he spins in his grave.
Pitt actually wouldn’t be bad if you took him in the spirit of John Gardner’s excellent “Return of Moriarty” and “Revenge of Moriarty” novels, which posit that Moriarty was just as young and athletic as Holmes, with the old-guy visage being a disguise. I can see Pitt doing the reptilian head-twitch thing.
You can’t take Downey terribly seriously as Holmes — although he did a much better job than I expected — but Jude Law’s Watson was excellent. And I was surprised at the number of faithful touches, Watson’s bull-pup being a really pleasing note, since it’s only mentioned in Study in Scarlet, and then only once. That clued me in rather quickly that real Holmes devotees were involved in this thing, and it showed. They really did try hard not to trample too terribly on the Master’s memory, within the confines of what is really a modern suspense/action film.