Well the not so awaited sequel of the 2009 guy ritchie interpretation
of sherlock holmes hits the theater and provides the masala and
entertainment value, but doesn't do justice to either the plot or the
original sherlock holmes. Ritchie packs up a single line plot with too
much action, too many jokes, too many matrix-y slow motion action
sequences and far too loud (and absolutely not necessary) Hans Zimmer
Score. If Cheap laughs, 'coolness', Masala are your cup of tea, you will
enjoy it but if you are one of those purists who despised Ritchie's
interpretation (or misinterpretation) of the victorian era detective in
the last installment, then its better to be prepared first and not
expect a mystery but an action comedy. Watchable nonetheless.
Ritchie's
Interpretation of the detective is no where close to the original
version by Sir Doyle. His Sherlock is more of a cool, full of attitude,
eccentric action hero rather than an astute detective. He believes more
in brawn than brain. And to be honest, you can see a lot of Iron Man in
Downey's portrayal. There is too much coolness to his portrayal. Its
entertaining no doubt and provides you a full paisa vasool but is not in
line with what the original sherlock would have been.
Movie
revolves around a certain Prof Moriarty who wants to spark off a world
war in 1891 so that he could make money by supplying arms to different
nations. Sherlock and his just married sidekick Dr Watson need to stop
him from doing so with the help of a gypsy woman. Jared Harris is the
pick of the lot for me for his straight faced cold blooded portrayal of
prof moriarty. RD entertains through out the movie with his slapstick,
drag avatars and a supposedly funny take on the detective, but seems too
far from the original character. The portrayal is so distant that
ritchie could have easily called him by other name and the movie would
remain exactly the way it is.
Though the movie drags in
the first half, the last 20 minutes or so provide total paisa vasool
entertainment with a right mix of action and comedy with a dash of
hollywood masala and you forget about the flaws in the plot or the
character portrayal, relax and enjoy. Though I'm not quite sure why
Ritchie chose the matrix-y fast-super slow motion style action. It looks
good but totally out of context. Also, from the first scene onwards you
think the soundtrack has a big Dark Knight hangover and you start
wondering if the score is by Hans and about 15 minutes in the movie and
you are confirmed. Its too loud for the setting and there is absolutely
no correlation between what's happening on screen and what's playing in
the background. Hans has done a brilliant job in making a killer
background score but it's just not for this movie. May be the third
installment in the dark knight series (if it comes out) or an inception
sequel but definitely not for sherlock holmes.
Overall:
Watchable if you want to sit back and enjoy a masala hollywood portrayal
of the classic detective. Not inline with the character but definitely
entertaining.
Feel-O-Meter: 7/10