Sherlock's Fight Club

I personally loved the Guy Ritchie adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. I might be partial because of the facts that I’m a sucker for action films, and I find Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Sherlock quite comical. I have to say, I like this adaptation the most because I find it entertaining. I believe Guy Richie’s version is just a modernized/sensationalized interpretation of Doyle’s work.

When Doyle started writing the Sherlock series, there wasn't necessarily an action genre. I believe that Doyle’s Sherlock stories definitely have elements that are found in most action/adventure stories nowadays. Compared to what today’s audience views as action and adventure, the original Doyle stories seem a little timid. This is why I believe that Guy Ritchie choose to sensationalize certain elements from Doyle’s version so that it would appeal more to today’s audience. Guy Ritchie version does use many elements from the written texts to create his interpretations.

In Doyle’s Sherlock story, A Study in Scarlet, the reader is given a list of Sherlock Holmes’s limits. On that list, it states, “Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman” (9). Although in our reading of Sherlock thus far, we have yet to see him actually display his expertise in boxing and swordsmanship. In the movie however, Sherlock is constantly fighting off enemies. I like Guy Ritchie’s interpretation on how Sherlock approaches his opponents. In the movies, Sherlock plans out his physical encounters 10 moves ahead, so by the time he attacks his opponents, he already knows how the fight will end. The movie might be taking some liberties with this interpretation, but it seems true to how the meticulous, mathematical, and logical Sherlock would approach a fight.

Another element that was adapted from the original stories to Guy Ritchie’s interpretation was Sherlock Holmes incredible ability to use disguises that even his closest colleagues can’t even see through. In the movie, Sherlock disguises himself as a bum in order to find out who Irene Adler is working for. Sherlock uses similar disguises in many of the Doyle stories as well. For instance, in the story The Man with the Twisted Lip, Sherlock disguised himself as an old man to spy on an opium den. His disguised worked so well that Watson himself didn't realize it was Sherlock.

In short, I don’t see Guy Ritchie’s interpretation as being that far of a stretch from Doyle’s original stories. Even when the Sherlock stories were first published they were a hit that people couldn’t seem to get enough of, so much so that the author was somewhat forced to bring Sherlock back from the dead. It sounds like to me that people already idealized Sherlock the character as a super hero back then. The main difference I see is the pumped up with fight scenes and explosions. Sherlock still has his amazing powers of deduction, and the first story did state that he was an excellent boxer. Guy Ritchie’s version is just trying to reach a broader audience that not only wants to see the hero outsmart the villain, they want to see asses being kicked.