lederhosen | (no subject)

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Director Guy Ritchie has turned the cerebral sleuth into a kung-fu action hero. You have been warned, writes Stephanie Bunbury.

...not saying it's going to be a good film, but sometimes it pays to be at least a little familiar with the source material before complaining about the 'changes'.

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I'd rather see Holmes as a talented boxer than a ju-jitsu master, but I like the idea of him engaging in a bit of action. Even if I don't hold out much hope for the film otherwise.

Well, I think it needs to be Bartitsu in order to remain canon, but agreed :)

Boxing gets a mention in The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist. So a bit of both would be ideal. :)

Ju-jitsu is canon (or at least, bartitsu).

...and I should probably not sit on comments so long before getting around to posting them.

Wasn't The Age a good newspaper, once upon a time?

"Holmes' relationship with Watson would no longer be that of mentor to mule, but a modern bromance; they would, moreover, be men who could look after themselves in a stoush."

I'm sorry, what? Has that reviewer actually read any Sherlock Holmes stories, or just watched the TV and film adaptations? Holmes and Watson are the Original Bromance in my mind. Also serious arse-kickers and, in Watson's case, a former soldier.

You know all this, I know. I just need to vent. :)

Yeah, I get kinda tired of Buffoon!Watson. The only thing that makes him look stupid is being contrasted to Holmes, and there was a reason Holmes brought Watson along when he was expecting a scrap.

It reminds me of the people who complained about FFC's Dracula being able to walk around in the daylight.

I also figure that Watson is a modest chap, and as narrator plays down his own accomplishments.

And I've just realised that I seem to be thinking of Holmes and Watson as real people, so I'm indignant when they're inaccurately portrayed. Um, whoops. :)

"Holmes' relationship with Watson would no longer be that of mentor to mule, but a modern bromance; they would, moreover, be men who could look after themselves in a stoush."

What? Mentor to mule? I've always read the Holmes-Watson relationship as that of two men who respected the talents and qualities of the other. Those talents were complimentary, and sometimes at odds, but the synergy of their relationship is best defined by the modern term, "bromance", and far from the mentor-student relationship. Watson was always a man of action, unafraid of getting physical the situation required it. Holmes, while certainly more cerebral, could appreciate that brute force was sometimes more appropriate and acceptable.

It reminds me of the people who complained about FFC's Dracula being able to walk around in the daylight.

Especially silly when there are so, so many genuine complaints to make instead.

(I fell asleep in the cinema watching that film and when I woke up, there was a werewolf on screen having sex with a girl on a tombstone, and what?)

Watson's an Afghanistan veteran, IIRC. Sure, a medico, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't all behind the lines, and did quite a bit of fighting. And yes, Holmes is supposed to know Bartitsu... which means a combination of boxing, jujitsu, and other random crazy stuff thrown in for good measure. It's perfectly gentlemanly to be extremely capable of killing your opponents when you need to. In modern terms, that does make them Action Heroes.

Well, Bartitsu is, according to wikipedia: combat techniques from the Tenjin Shinyō, Fusen and Daito schools of jujutsu as well as British boxing, Swiss schwingen, French savate, and a defensive la canne (stick fighting) style that had been developed by Pierre Vigny of Switzerland. So all of the above, plus more random crazy things.

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