Guy Ritchie's Interpretation of Sherlock Holmes

I for one have always looked at Sherlock Holmes as somewhat of an action hero. Even before I read the books, many different adaptions of his stories that I have seen had Sherlock as this action hero, saving people and stopping bad guys next to solving mysteries. For example, Case Closed, a Japanese partial adaption has the young mystery solver solving mysteries and even fighting off bad guys. After reading a few of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, I can definitely see where these adaptions and especially where Guy Ritchie was coming from. In The Hounds of Baskerville, we see Sherlock Holmes going undercover to solve the mystery of the ghostly hound murdering people left and right in the area. He doesn’t do much more than solve the mystery, but he does go further than solving the mystery itself. He is willing to go the extra mile instead of staying behind the scenes and only looking at the clues to solve these complex mysteries. He has always been the type of person to go the extra mile in solving mysteries and that is probably what pushed Guy Ritchie to make him an action hero. Also, the way he presented himself. He waited until the best moment to come out as this homeless man to sort of take the mystery himself from Watson who has spent a long time trying to solve it himself. Watson just wanted to prove himself and be seen as an equal sort of to Sherlock but he was shot down by Sherlock’s cockyish attitude.

            He has all the qualities of one including cunning, smarts, and a mysterious demeanor. Sherlock is not your average person. He is almost super in a sense. We brought it up in class that he has a mind far better than an average human. He can completely research someone’s past and present self just by looking at minor details on their person. This ability is his power. This mental ability puts him above everyone else. In the film by Guy Ritchie, we see Sherlock using his mental power to easily take down enemies. Guy Ritchie focuses Sherlock’s abilities to be more resonant to that of an action hero. Guy Ritchie simply took all of his qualities and focused them in a direction to present him, as the hero viewers love to see.

            Another reason for Sherlock being an action hero would be for the modern audience to go see the movie. I feel as if the many films that make large bucks in the box office are all either action movies or large budget scifi/horror movies. Making Sherlock an action figure could just be like a way to make money. That would probably be one of the less interesting reasons but it is a very important one. Which movie would make more, a serious crime solving/ funny and interesting character driven movie or an action packed crime solving/ funny and quirky character driven movie?

            From what Guy Ritchie had taken from the Sherlock Holmes literature, he pulled from A Scandal in Bohemia. He took the character of Irene Adler and gave her more of an evolved history with Sherlock. Irene and Sherlock do not really show too much affection in the films but their sparks do seem to be present. Given they do sort of kiss towards the end. Guy Ritchie and probably most of the world, sees Irene Adler as Sherlock’s love interest and wanted to express her because every action hero needs a love interest. Even though Irene Adler is his apparent love interest, I sort of believe that Watson is a bit of a love interesting. They are both bet friends and their love for each other transcends “love” in the romantic sense. They have moments that represent people who are in a loving relationship. Their constant fighting and the way that they spark life into each other. The way they try to one up each other like in The Hounds of Baskerville. Guy Ritchie probably sees Watson and Sherlock as more than partners and more of loving friends and he wanted to focus on that is this film. “I might have gone a bit far in this final translation. Ha.)