The One True Sherlock

[wordweaverlynn]

Poll #11409 The One True Sherlock

Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 29

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Who is your favorite version of Sherlock Holmes?

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The one in the original stories, of course
11 (40.7%)

Basil Rathbone
4 (14.8%)

Jeremy Brett
3 (11.1%)

George C. Scott
0 (0.0%)

The one in Nicholas Meyer's novels
0 (0.0%)

Christopher Plummer
0 (0.0%)

Robert Downey Jr.
6 (22.2%)

Benedict Cumberbatch
2 (7.4%)

Another of the many actors who have played him
0 (0.0%)

I hate them all
0 (0.0%)

Who's Sherlock Holmes?
1 (3.7%)

Who is your favorite version of Dr. Watson?

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The one in the original stories, of course
7 (25.0%)

Nigel Bruce
1 (3.6%)

David Burke
2 (7.1%)

Edward Hardwicke
1 (3.6%)

Joanne Woodward
0 (0.0%)

The one in Nicholas Meyer's novels
0 (0.0%)

James Mason
1 (3.6%)

Jude Law
5 (17.9%)

Martin Freeman
8 (28.6%)

Another of the many actors who have played him
2 (7.1%)

I hate them all
0 (0.0%)

Who's Dr. Watson?
1 (3.6%)

Why are we seeing a return of Sherlock Holmes?

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Return? He's never really gone away.
10 (35.7%)

He's decisive and effective in a world of messy mysteries.
0 (0.0%)

He always comes back to save us during times of economic disturbance.
1 (3.6%)

He's the world's best-known fictional hero.
0 (0.0%)

He's out of copyright.
6 (21.4%)

Hollywood's out of ideas.
1 (3.6%)

More than one of the above.
9 (32.1%)

Some other reason I will explain in comments.
0 (0.0%)

Because he's dangerous on both ends and crafty in the middle.
1 (3.6%)

I have a lifelong crush on Sherlock Holmes, dating to when I discovered a battered copy of A Study in Scarlet and Other Stories when I was about 8. Although I never much cared for the old Basil Rathbone films (and never saw any of Jeremy Brett's TV version, I loved Murder by Decree, in which Christopher Plummer as Holmes (with James Mason as Watson) goes up against Jack the Ripper. Stellar cast, very atmospheric, a good mix of mystery with occasional light touches.

Then along came Robert Downey, Jr.

Now, you know I'm going to love a movie that features RDJ with no shirt. In fact--

spoilers ahead for various Sherlock Homes films, TV shows, etc.

In fact, any movie with him bound naked to a bed will definitely draw my interest. In addition, I loved the movie's interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, especially the foregrounding of the original homoerotic subtext. I also liked the return of the muscular, street-fighting Sherlock, which is much closer to Doyle's original creation than the casual reader might believe. The production was gorgeous, too, though I would really have preferred to limit the time in the slaughterhouse. It's been a few years since I saw it, so I can't remember what i thought about the plot. Maybe that's sufficient comment right there.

Swoony, slashy, sexy. Wonderful. Clearly the One True Sherlock was RDJ.

It seems deeply unfair that my illusions were shattered by watching the first season of the new Sherlock. Benedict Cumberbatch is so physically perfect as Holmes that he puts RDJ in the shade. The bony face, bizarrely elongated body, coltish movements -- yes, and the consistent British accent -- he really is ideal for the role. I like Martin Freeman, too, who plays Watson balanced between common sense and frustration with his genius roommate. And I'm enjoying the updates to the stories, although I'm distressed at the racism in the first season. (Haven't yet seen the second.)

So tonight we watched the second RDJ Sherlock Holmes movie. Didn't pass the Bechdel test, but it did have a few women, and they weren't just cheeseburgers. And the right mix of humor and seriousness, and many interesting explosions, and RDJ in drag. Oh, and the fabulous Stephen Fry as Mycroft -- a casting choice that could not be more perfect. How could anyone resist?

So I think I may need to spend more time watching various versions to see which one really is the One True Sherlock. Or maybe I'll just divide them into eras and give them separate awards: Best Victorian Sherlock, Best Modern Sherlock, Sherlock I'd most like to tie up naked.

I'm turning into a fangirl.

Comments

[gramina]

I very much wanted "many of them, differently" for the first two. (At least you had it for the third one! :))

Also, I think my very favorite Watson is the one in Laurie King's Beekeeper's Apprentice series -- though the modern-day one is at least a very close second, and may surge to the front as I see more of him.

[elainegrey]

My favorite Holmes is the one in the Mary Russell stories.

I think part of the resurgence is the development of steampunk style as well as the copyright issue.

[legionseagle]

Oh, Christ, I hated, hated, hated the second RDJ movie and reviewed it here. And while I concede that The Blind Banker is known to my friends as either the Bad Shit Sherlock( his dealer gave him something cut with something dodgy that caused the whole thing to take place in his subconscious) or the Buggered Blog Sherlock(Harry hacked into John's blog when drunk and made up the whole thing) I'm flabbergasted that people didn't also notice the utter racism in Sherlock Holmes:Game of Shit , principally the horrible exoticisation of the Roma (it's set in 1891. Half a million Rom are going to die in Auschewicz and the other death camps within the lifetime of most of the characters in the movie and their present day treatment is a blot on 21st century Europe) and it is inexcusable that they're used as comfortably exotic foreigners in that movie. Add to that fridging Irene and the really misogynistic treatment of Mary Morstan and I was spitting.

[kshandra]

...THEY FRIDGED IRENE?

I haven't seen A Gay of Shadows (as it's come to be known on Tumblr) yet, but somehow I'd managed not to hear that particular detail.

[legionseagle]

I'm terribly sorry to do a spoiler, but since it happened before the credits I rather assumed it had entered the public domain.

[kshandra]

No apology necessary, I assure you. I'm just astonished they would consider that an acceptable piece of canon to fuck with.

[legionseagle]

I'm not actually a huge fan of canon Irene, so I thought I could live with what they chose to do to her character in the first RDJ/Jude Law movie, and was positively keen on how they treated Mary Morstan in terms of canon. The second movie was horrible with regard to both women. The one killed got off lightly.

[wordweaverlynn]

Wait a minute. I missed this. When did they kill her?

Clearly I wasn't watching too closely.

[legionseagle]

Shortly before the end of the opening credits. She's working with Moriarty and arranges to meet him in a crowded tea-shop, but everyone in the tea-shop is actually in his pay and they all steal away and he poisons her.

I have no idea why.

[starlady]

I also read Holmes when I was about 8. And then I was a goner.

I do love the RDJ movies best, though I also think that Cumberbatch makes an excellent Holmes. But for my taste Sherlock has a bit too much of MOffat's issues to be a really excellent adaptation overall - which is odd because I wouldn't have expected Guy Ritchie to put in a really great interpretation but he has. RDJ is the closest I have to a One True Holmes, but there are so many Holmeses that I could never pick just one.

[kalmn]

I'm excited about Lucy Liu as Watson.

[firecat]

No fair that you made the poll with radio buttons, dammit!

Holmes was one of my childhood romantic heroes.

Jeremy Brett does the best job of impersonating the Holmes of the stories, but he's a little toned down.

I enjoyed the RDJ movies despite their $FAIL (NEKKID STEPHEN FRY!!!), but RDJ is not Holmes at all. He's a superhero who has supernatural abilities similar to the ones Holmes got by being smart and learned.

The original Holmes might be an ancestor of Cumberbatch's Holmes. But Cumberbatch's Holmes is unpredictable for the fun of it, and the original Holmes was unpredictable for different reasons.

I also like Laurie King's Holmes, although I've only read two of the novels.

[owlmoose]

I haven't watched enough Holmes versions (and have never read the original novels) to have much opinion overall, but I love, love, love Martin Freeman's Watson. He's the right blend of everyman and frighteningly competent, and his chemistry with Cumberbatch is top-notch. He's the main reason I watched BBC Sherlock so avidly, and I'm really looking forward to more.

I'm also curious about Elementary. Apparently the pilot reviewed well at Comic Con.

[yantantether]

I had such a hard time deciding between Jeremy Brett and RDJ for my favourite Holmes! Watson is easy for me, though: Jude Law's portrayal of him is just perfect.

(Here via a friend's circle, btw.)