Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows - Essay Example

Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows of the English Literature ic and Modern) of the Concerned 3 August Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows is a 2011action mystery movie starring Robert Downey Jr as the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. There is no denying the fact that the original characters of Sherlock Holmes contrived by Arthur Conan Doyle known by his Meerschaum pipe, the deerstalker hat and the ever present tweed cape has certainly undergone some changes in the much successful cinematic version (Rainer 21).

The movie is essentially true to the Sherlock Holmes genre in the sense that it portrays the avid detective trying to bring to justice an astute bad man. In the Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows, Sherlock Holmes and his much famous side kick Watson are pitted against a fierce adversary, Professor Moriarty. The two central characters join forces to bring down the mean and schematic Professor Moriarty who intends to benefit from his acquisition of the arms companies, by starting a war in Europe.

The chase for Professor Moriarty ends up becoming utterly dramatic and suspenseful, with Moriarty trying to bring down the people close to the heart of Sherlock Holmes. In the actual works of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as a 6 feet tall and lean character. However, when it comes to Robert Downey Jr, it is certainly a fact that he scarcely emulates the original character in terms of physique and looks. In the works of Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is presented as a stickler for personal cleanliness.

Yet, in the case of Robert Downey Jr, the unkempt looks, scruffy visage and messy hair give way to a character that is nothing like the original detective. However, if one sets aside the looks, and tends to consider the behavior of the character played by Robert Downey Jr, there is no doubt that the cinematic character comes quiet close to the original Holmes. In the matter of deductive prowess that defines the original Sherlock Holmes, Downey indeed comes out as an apt cinematic counterpart.

Downey comes quiet close to the acumen of Holmes in a number of scenes. For instance when he prevents a bomb for exploding at the very start of the movie, one simply could not help praising his presence of mind, which is so much like the original character. However, the director has done away with most of the tradition as he divests the character played by Downey of much of the attire that was peculiar to the original Sherlock Holmes. In case of the original Sherlock Holmes, the character tended to be more deductive, relying on the undeveloped science of the times.

However, the new Sherlock Holmes played by Downey, is intelligent as well as more of a human and is more instinctual and extempore. The new Sherlock Holmes does not mind engaging in riveting action and is comfortable using both the brain and the brawn. The other characters have also not escaped much change in this movie. For instance the original Watson played a typical side kick to Sherlock Holmes, coming out as being a somewhat restrained, less sharp and a bit muted helper to the actual detective.

Seldom, in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is presented as being dependent on Watson beyond a limit. However, the new avatar of Watson is endowed with much larger importance, on which the detective is shown to be so dependent that he comes out as being lost and worn out without Watson. It goes without saying that in many ways the movie tends to stray away from the original literary portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. The landscape in which the character of Robert Downey Jr is placed has a stylized Victorian presentation that facilitates a period feel to the audience, while retaining an element of contemporaneous and the modern.

The other thing is that the sets do manage to eke out a strictly British feel to the ambience in which the characters are placed. The one aspect of the movie that indeed needs to be praised is that it has managed to furnish a new rendering to the Sherlock Holmes genre by imbuing it with much speed, action and physicality, which divests it of the slowness and a tinge of boredom associated with the old Sherlock Holmes movies. Overall, it would not be wrong to say that Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows though differs from the original theme in many ways, yet, it stills manages to catch the immense interest and suspense that defined the original Sherlock Holmes stories.

Works Cited Rainer, Peter. “Robert Downey Jr. Returns in ‘Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows’”. The Christian Science Monitor 16 December 2011: 21. Print.