Sherlock

[usuallyhats]

Have seen Sherlock. After reading many words about it on the internets and thinking about them and it, am still trying to decide whether I liked it or not; I did enjoy it, but there were things I didn't like, and things I haven't quite worked out what I think about yet.

• If they never use the word "text" again it will be too soon. I agree that Holmes would've been ALL OVER texting (he can be as vague and peremptory as he likes and blame it on the format!) but it did get on my nerves rather a lot. "I shall TEXT someone." "Look, I have got a TEXT." "We are TEXTING the murderer." etc etc etc


• Modern AU, and the leads are still both white men? *sigh*


• Mr. Cumberbatch is indeed an excellent Holmes, though, and lots of fun to watch. I cannot judge Martin Freeman, though, as I have an irrational dislike of him (on screen! I'm sure he's perfectly nice in real life) and it is getting in the way.


• I wish they would cut it out with the "everyone assumes they're a couple, isn't that hilarious!" bits. I've been trying to articulate why I disliked this so much; apologies for going on a bit. I think that for the "everyone thinks X and Y are a couple!" joke to work, it relies on either a) the reactions of X and Y to that assumption being inherently funny (usually because it's so over the top) or b) the audience to know that X and Y being a couple is a ridiculous idea. (Or both, of course.) And I feel like if X and Y are a man and a woman, the audience knowing that the idea of them being a couple is ridiculous relies on knowledge of the characters and their relationship to each other - i.e., we know that they are related, or seeing other people, or secretly hate each other, or are just plain incompatible. Whereas if X and Y are both men (or both women, though this is rarer simply because there are fewer female characters on TV/in films, which is another rant for another day), more often it feels like this is presented as a ridiculous idea because they're not gay and the idea that they might be is funny in itself. And this is... tiresome, to say the least. I also feel like the "everyone assumes their gay!" thing is used so that the producers can go "look how modern and progressive we are, acknowledging the existence of gay people" without actually having to, y'know, include gay characters. (This is something that I've been reaching Critical Annoyance Mass on recently - Sherlock's by no means the worst offender but it is, unfortunately, the most recent and therefore the one bearing the brunt of my rage.) Of course this may all be moot: I've seen a few theories around that since the "someone thinks X and Y are a couple" is sometimes used to foreshadow X and Y getting together, that might be the case here too. Which would be awesome. (I would also be delighted with an explicitly asexual Holmes, which I think they were hinting at but hadn't quite got to).


• Not terribly impressed with Watson's limp being all in his mind, though I did enjoy the "where were you actually shot?" bit.


• I liked all the ladies and wished they had bigger parts, especially Molly and Anthea.


• Lots of great lines, too, but I expect that from Moffat. "So I'm basically filling in for your skull?", "I'm in shock; look, I've got a blanket!" Also the drugs bust scene was awesome.

Comments

Re: SPOILERS!

[usuallyhats]

I haven't seen him in that much, really, but it tends to be things I have complicated feelings about!

but I rather liked the text on screen and the street chase map.
Me too; I thought it worked really well as a way of illustrating how Sherlock's mind worked. I don't mind devices like that if they work with rather than against) the story (and don't make me feel seasick!).