"Sherlock Holmes 2" release set

The folks over at JoBlo.com have gotten official word that the sequel to 2009's surprise smash hit Sherlock Holmes has a confirmed release date of December 16, 2011, exactly two years after the first film (making this the second film franchise for Downey Jr. to do so, after Iron Man 2 opened two years after its predecessor). However, change is afoot; Downey Jr. and Law are back for sure, but Rachel McAdams, despite being "present," won't be the leading lady. As much as I like Ms. McAdams, she was my one gripe casting-wise in regards to the first film; she appeared to be way in over her head. Hopefully the new leading lady will be A) more age appropriate, and B) be able to carry a better repartee with Downey Jr. Perhaps his Iron Man co-star, Gwyneth Paltrow?

"Sherlock Holmes" - REVIEW

It's official: Robert Downey Jr. can now add a second franchise to his resurrected career, and luckily, it's a good one. Add in the fact that Iron Man 2 opens a tad less than five months from now, and it's hard to see Downey Jr. slowing down any time soon, which is hardly a bad thing. He's found a new semi-tongue-in-cheek niche that suits him well, especially in his latest cinematic outing, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, a reinvention of the classic sleuth that is both more faithful to the character designs of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original, with an added, action-oriented twist. Holmes is no longer a perfect, clean, faultless genius, but a bit of a careless eccentric. He's still brilliant, but there are others too. I'm a bit scatterbrained at the moment, so I figure this will work best if I just list a few points to talk about. Hmmm...point number 1...

#1. Holmes and Watson: Downey Jr. is very fun as Holmes, but the real surprise here is the film's (and Jude Law's) treatment of Watson. In prior cinematic versions Watson is reduced to being a sidekick, and nothing more than a foil for the almost irritatingly brilliant Holmes. That's certainly not the case here. Watson is quite an impressive character and more than holds his own in both intelligence and combat (it is revealed early on that he served in the military). In fact, by making Watson a more impressive equal to Holmes, the Holmes character becomes even more bearable and much more fun.

#2. The supporting players: Sadly, the supporting players don't fare as well, for several reasons. Easily the best is Mark Strong as the film's villain, Lord Blackwood, who appears to have risen from the grave. There's also Happy-Go-Lucky's Eddie Marsan, who has a few nice moments but on the whole is terribly underused. Last is Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, Holmes' love interest of sorts. Unfortunately, McAdams feels somewhat miscast, and her delivery feels too light to compete; the role already needed to be fleshed out a hint more, but the simple change to a slightly older actress (maybe Downey Jr.'s Iron Man co-star Gwyneth Paltrow??) would have been a better romantic interest/rival.

#3. The mystery/story: Though it could probably be cut down by 10 minutes, the story is engaging and does evoke genuine suspense as it builds towards its finale, even if the denouement prattles on a bit.

#4. The action: Surprisingly, not really a bad thing. Instead of throwing in the action angle lazily, there are several moments in which we see Holmes methodically running through the process of taking down his opponent in his head, showing him to be a thinking fighter, and not a blunt bruiser.

#5. The other stuff (artistic/techs): It all looks great, though the camera work during the earlier fights could afford to be a bit clearer. Best out of everything is Hans Zimmer's lively score.

One last thought: The film has many similarities to Batman Begins: re-imagining of a classic character, somewhat generic love interest and villain, and an obvious hint at much grander events in the sequel (a very special Holmes villain is set up for throughout the whole film).

Grade: B

New theatrical trailer for "Sherlock Holmes"

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Final poster for "Sherlock Holmes"

New TV trailer for "Sherlock Holmes"

Is Brad Pitt shooting scenes for "Sherlock Holmes"?

Source: Slashfilm.com

After a dodgy sounding rumor appeared in The Daily Mirror earlier this week, Warner Bros. were rather quick to quash it. No, they said - Brad Pitt had not been enlisted to join the cast of Sherlock Holmes. This was taken by many as a full on undermining of all elements of the story, but that was probably a big mistake.

Warning: By necessity, this story is going to contain a fairly big spoiler or two. These aren’t details relating to the main plot of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movie, but you may still feel they ruin some of the film’s surprises for you. Continue carefully, and definitely don’t click after the break unless you don’t mind a big reveal from the last reel being given away.

Since I read the script for Sherlock Holmes, I’ve known that Moriarty would be making a late-in-the-game appearance. He’s only got a small number of lines and not a great deal to do, but it’s still an event not unlike The Joker stepping out of the shadows near the end of a Batman story. His appearance is definitely connected with the big maguffin that drives the story forwards, though I don’t think it would be safe to say he’s a key player. In fact, the Moriarty moment feels half like a wink to Holmes fans (who with this kind of ultra-populist Holmes film may well be in the minority in the audience) and half like a plug for a sequel that might never exist.

MTV has spoken to Guy Ritchie and he’s outright confirmed the appearance of Moriarty in the film. Furthermore, he’s confirmed that there will be no actor credited as being in the role. How curious. This has the MTV team taking the Warners statement as a carefully-worded side step. They’re now questioning whether or not Brad actually will be turning up in the film and seem pretty suspicious that he will be.

Now, the script I have may be out of date but according to the information therein, the rumor from the Mirror’s story doesn’t make sense at all. Most obviously, perhaps, they were talking about the addition of Moriarty to beef up an otherwise lacking film when, actually, Moriarty was part of the plan all along.

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"Sherlock Holmes" character posters

"Sherlock Holmes" trailer!!

Six new photos from Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes"!!

"Sherlock Holmes" poster!

First pictures from Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" (2009)

The film, a classic Holmes story but with some subtle modern touches (dialogue, pacing, etc...) stars Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, Jude Law as Watson, and Rachel McAdams (not pictured) as the American love interest. Judging by that first photo, Mr. Ritchie seems to have turned Mr. Holmes into quite the bruiser, in addition to his traditional intellectual strength.