Jairam's Jives: August 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

Sherlock Holmes - Movie Review

My earliest memories of Sherlock Holmes are that of a pipe smoking, round hat wearing, sharp nosed tall gentleman, who could pretty much deduce an entire day's happenings, and maybe even more just from a speck of dirt or tobacco stain on another person's sleeve or any other part of his dress. Such was Holmes' reputation for deductive reasoning that he had gained legendary status in my mind, and to this date remains one of the best detectives of all times. The fact that I devoured a complete anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories in no time when it was gifted to me stands testimony to my admiration for this character. However, that being said, I absolutely loved Guy Ritchie's wonderful interpretation and adaptation of this wonderful detective. The pizzazz and panache with which both Holmes and his friend and confidante Watson have been presented in this movie has to be seen to be believed.

Not one frame in this movie has been wasted. Right from the very first sequence where Holmes is shown rescuing a hapless girl from a ritual murder which leads to the arrest of Lord Blackwood, the movie takes viewers on a riveting adventure. The story revolves around the series of murders committed by Lord Blackwood into which Holmes gets drawn deeper and deeper into. The movie also features Irene Adler, Holmes' muse, the only adversary who has convincingly managed to outwit him on more than one occassion in the past. What adds to the fun though is Holmes' unfettered admiration and at times, even adolescent infatuation for Adler which leads him into trouble, more than once in this movie itself.

The plot takes a serious turn when more murders are committed by the supposedly dead Lord Blackwood, and what happens during Holmes' investigation pretty much forms the rest of the movie. The ending especially has die-hard Holmes fans, and anybody who liked this movie licking their lips and waiting for more, reason being one name which is mentioned, which surely conjures up visions of an equally good sequel to this movie.

One couldn't have asked for more competent actors than Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law to play Holmes and Watson. The bonhomie and camraderie shared by both these guys on screen is nothing short of brilliant, and the chemistry between them has to be seen to be believed. In my opinion, Guy Ritchie's casting of Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes is brilliant, because he brings to screen his already quirky and edgy traits which the character of Holmes so rightly deserves. Anybody who has read the stories long and hard enough will realize that this could very well be the most apt interpretation of the character on screen ever. Plus the fact that Ritchie picked the action-movie route for this movie rather than a drab, dry detective movie which involved solving a case after the crime had been committed speaks volumes for his foresightedness. He enjoys giving the viewers some nice action sequences in the form of fist fights, situations where Holmes and Watson find themselves hopelessly outnumbered yet try to fight their way out of the same. All in all, a nice movie, which will leave you eagerly waiting for the second instalment.

Trailer

Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Italian Job - Movie Review

Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Edward Norton and a cameo appearance by Donald Sutherland. Now, if you need more reasons to catch a movie, here is one more, a heist movie. Need I say more about this movie at all, any further words would be unnecessary for you to actually catch this movie at least once. After the Ocean series of movies, The Italian Job remains one of the better heist movies made. In fact, considering the wonderful action sequences shot at Venice and Los Angeles, I might just even put this probably just a notch above the Ocean movies even.

The plot itself deals with how one of the members of a successful Venetian heist goes rogue, and tries to kill the other members of the crew. Unknown to him, the rest of the crew quietly plots its revenge under the able leadership of Charlie (Wahlberg). While the rest of the crew is doing it for the money as well as revenge, Stella (Theron) mostly does it for revenge for the killing of her father. One master planner, one demolition expert, one cyber geek, one wheels guy and one expert lock-picker, how the merry crew plans and extracts their revenge makes up for the main storyline of the movie.

The movie has some amazing action sequences, especially the ones involving the 3 small Mini Coopers. The cars with their distinctive paint patterns, are part of the some of the most memorably action sequences of all time. How the director and the camera crew actually shot these sequences would make the Special Features DVD itself worth a careful watch. Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron share some good onscreen chemistry, while Jason Statham does what he does best, look good and kick some mean butt with an awesome series of action sequences involving cars.

My only grouse with this movie is the character of Edward Norton. For an actor of his calibre, his character could have been written much better. In my opinion, this movie would have looked much better with a stronger, more complicated villain. Norton instead ends up looking quite like a caricature at the end of the movie. Apart from that, a double thumbs up for this movie.

Trailer