One-Two Punch: Sherlock Holmes and Frog Princess

SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)

Well, its time for the Christmas weekend (or Festivus, if you like) and that brings the last big blockbuster of the year. Here comes Sherlock Holmes, set to dominate the box office and... come in #2 to Avatar on opening weekend? What? Amazing the positive word of mouth that film's gotten.

Yet, despite the awesome spectacle that is Avatar, Sherlock Holmes may well be the better movie.

Its amazing this thing even got made, really. Guy Ritchie directing? Wha? Oh, sure, we all remember Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch fondly, but those movies were sooo ten years ago. What's this acclaimed director done since those two big debuts? RocknRolla and Revolver to name a couple, both financial and critical failures. Or how about Swept Away, a vehicle for his wife Madonna, one of the biggest bombs and most hated movies of the modern age? With those as his last three films, its amazing to think that Warner Brothers and five production companies would throw $120 Million at the man and say "Hey, hope you do better than Young Sherlock Holmes/ Great Mouse Detective."

But, hey, once in a while a Hollywood gamble pays off. Sometimes they get Nine (same opening weekend, $80 Million spent, $5 Million Return) and sometimes even a one-trick pony manages to pull off a blockbuster. Well, I guess I can't give Ritchie TOO much shit. I mean, he did make a very good movie this outing... though his one-trick still makes an appearance; super-slo-mo fight scenes? Oh yeah, they're in there. In fact, I'm sure they used the same building and spectators from Snatch. But, while the fights don't add anything to the picture, and could be excised and the film still be just as good, they are entertaining and add a certain flare to this new, rough and tumble Holmes. Ritchie's 'Dirty London' makes a perfect backdrop for Downey's take on the character.

In this particular outing, we find Holmes right in the thick of his career. We aren't forced to see some sort of coming of age or origin story, nor a tale about an aged Holmes coming back into his prime. If anything, this adds to the strength of the movie. Far too often have we been forced to watch the origin of already established characters. Cool as it is, I hope I never have to sit through Superman's origin ever again. Ever. Instead, Holmes is already established (which is good, with Downey being 40, believable) he's about to meet his greatest nemesis in Professor Moriarty, and he finds himself increasingly isolated from society by his rampant intellect. Richie took the far too often neglected path of giving us exactly what we like about a character shoved right in our faces. Delicious.

And Holmes is faced with two particular problems this time around, first off is his nemesis, Lord Blackwood, who has seemingly been captured, executed, and mysteriously revived from the dead. Blackwood seems to have some sort of mystical powers, creating death by fire and water, seemingly by the flick of his wrist. With this new, strange power, Blackwood manages to infiltrate and control the Illuminati-like group of London's finest for his own ends. Meanwhile, closer to home, Doctor Watson finally tires of Sherlock's eccentric behavior, and looks to marry and move out on his own, threatening the bromance. In the shadows, all the while, the shadowy Moriarty manipulates all the players to his own end.

What in the film doesn't work? For the particular, perhaps the more muscular version of the titular Holmes. For fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's intellectual hero, this might be too much liberty with the character. Also, there's some odd anachronism in the film, both in the language of the characters, and Blackwood's ultimate device.

And really... that's about it.

For those who can get past a new take on an old favorite, they'll find that Ritchie's take is very suitable. While Holmes' intellect now include martial arts, and comes with a certain degree of agoraphobia, if you have a look at the subtle motions, Holmes still uses his incredible intelligence in every scene, though you might not see it until everything is revealed at the end. In fact, a few saavy viewers may even guess what Blackwood's game is. Its an intelligent and fun script that doesn't disappoint, delivering comedy, action, and mystery to the end. And there's a drugged up Bulldog. Bonus.

Of course, what really pulls off the whole thing are the performances. Jude Law is a delightful straight man as Watson, Mark Strong's Lord Blackwood is perfectly diabolical, and of course Robert Downey Junior dominates the screen as Sherlock. We are living in his world right now, it seems. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Iron Man, Good Night and Good Luck, Tropic Thunder, everything this guy is in right now is gold, pure and simple. In fact, I think I have a little bromance of my own going. RDJr, if you're out there and you need another guy for your entourage, look me up. I'd like to party with you.

All that said, its a nearly flawless film to finish off the year. 2009 nine had a lot of disappointments on the screen, but Sherlock Holmes prevails. Elementary, dear reader.

PRINCESS AND THE FROG-

This one's a bit older now, and I just got out to see it. A shorter review then, as most of you who have any interest have already seen it.

The thing is, I really didn't have any interest in the story. Even just the trailers let me know that the story would be kind of bland, and the jokes weren't really going to work. Often, things like Kung-Fu Panda and How to Raise your Dragon, I can see the trailer, and get a few laughs, but it wasn't so with Princess and the Frog. But, I've often lamented the loss of Disney's hand-animation department, so I had to see it, just to give my support.

Its not bad. Not bad at all. But really, it isn't great either. Its a bit on the bland side, all around. There are a few really good laughs, to be sure. But those are too few and far between. I can only think of maybe two moments where the whole audience laughed, and most of the time, even the kids weren't making any sounds of glee. They weren't bored and screaming either, but there was certainly no laughter or dancing or 'YAAAY's to be heard as the heroes made their journey.

The one thing I will applaud is Shadow Man. I had a lot of fun with this villain. For one thing, he's voiced by Keith David, best known as Goliath from Gargoyles, or as that guy who got head from Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream. While his singing could use some work, his bad guy vocals were spot on, and I loved the look of his voodoo musical number and Papa Shango makeup. Add in some really creepy demon shadows to do his dirty work, and you've got the making of a really memorable Disney Villain. Its just too bad he's fighting such a forgettable heroic cast.

One thing I found interesting, though, is the way the princess, Disney's first black princess, to be more specific, found her happy ending. She gets help from white people.

There's all kinds of strange little social images that kept popping up in Princess and the Frog that I was surprised to see get included and then glossed over. The Princess, Tiana, and her mom work as seamstresses for a very wealthy white man. When their work is done at the end of the day, they go home to a little shack in the black neighborhood of town. There it is, right there, segregation and classism. Of course, that's never mentioned. Nor is it really mentioned why it is that Tiana's father worked so hard doing double shifts all of his life, and then served in the military, earning a Congressional Medal of Honor, only to die penniless and unfulfilled in his modest goal of opening a restaurant.

And then, of course, despite all of Tiana's hard work, which is a central focus of the movie, and despite all of her wishes, and despite her finding the man of her dreams, her equally simple goal of opening a restaurant and honoring her father would have been completely unfulfilled if it weren't for a big gob of money given to her by the same white family she'd been servicing since she was a little girl.

Hey, white family, how about giving Tiana some of that money to help her out, just for being a friend to your daughter? Or did she have to save her from a sham marriage to earn that pittance?

Ah well, the kids won't notice this for years, if ever. They might enjoy it. If nothing else, Charlotte, voiced by Jennifer Cody, is pretty effing hilarious, and the source of most of the laughs in the movie. While this kind of character can be annoying, she pulled off the debutante quite well.

Check it out for a cold afternoon's matinee. Its great to see Disney come back to hand animation, but they can do better.