Sherlock Holmes... the movie

Jonathan and I just went to see the Sherlock Holmes movie. We both really liked it! There were a few discrepancies, but we decided that they were necessary in making the literary character into a movie character. One that Jonathan brought up was that he (Sherlock himself) was to much in reality. That might not be the best way to say it... basically in the Conan Doyle stories, Holmes is quite often off in his own world and has many more weird quirks than the movie character shows. I mentioned that the directer did try and make up for this by allowing Holmes to occasionally become lost in thought, or at times seem completely crazy. However, had the entire movie been like this, it would have been a disaster. So, I think that they did a pretty good job of balancing that. Next issue is that the story is not told from Dr. Watson's point of view as are almost all of Conan Doyle's stories (I think all but the first one where he is introduced, and maybe one other). Because of this, the audience sees the story unfold as an uninvolved third party. It is not quite the same as having an omniscient narrator, since we only occasionally see into Holmes' mind, but it is extremely different from the stories in which we never see into his mind and only view his thoughts at the end as he tells them to Watson. In the movie, the audience is allowed to pick up on some facts before the end of the story. This is also somewhat necessary for a movie as opposed to literature. I also thought that there was a bit too much violence... also to make it a more interesting movie. But, although Holmes is an accomplished fighter, he does not, ever, fight that much in any of his stories. But I was very entertained by all of this. It was actually a great movie.
One of my favorite parts was that Irene Adler was a main character. She was, in fact, used as a foil to Holmes. It was great! It was basically what would/could have happened if she had actually appeared in any stories again (after A Scandal in Bohemia). I thought it was a very fun play on the story... probably mostly because I love that the only person to really dupe Sherlock Holmes was a woman :) But of course in the movie, she breaks down and admits her love for him, in her own way. Would have been more true to the character if she had kept running.
Another Sherlock Holmes enemy character makes an appearance in the film, Moriarty. He played a somewhat minor role, being used as the main reason that Adler came back in Holmes' life, but also set up the movie for a sequel. Moriarty was actually depicted as Holmes' arch-nemesis, so I wouldn't be surprised (and in fact be very delighted) to see another Holmes movie in which he pursues his case against Moriarty.
All in all, I loved the movie. And I also now think that Robert Downy Jr is very good looking :)