With two Sherlock Holmes movies set for the screens, Movies.ie asks: Who is the better Sherlock – Iron Man or Borat?
It’s the Battle of Baker Street! Arthur Conan Doyle’s pipe-smoking detective hits the silver screen twice in the next few years with two distinctly different actors donning Holmes’ famous tweed overcoat: Robert Downey Jr. and Sacha Baron Cohen. But which Holmes will emerge victorious? Movies.ie puts the films under the magnifying glass and investigates…
What will these fresh takes on Holmes bring to a character listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as ” the most portrayed?” Over 70 actors — from the classic Basil Rathbone (Video: Basil as Sherlock in 1939’s “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.”) to Sir John Gielgud to John Barrymore to Snoopy to Nicholas Rowe as a teenaged Holmes — had tried their luck at bringing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation to life. So what can we expect from the latest incarnations?
Well, early reports suggest the Robert Downey Jr. vehicle gives the classic story the rough-and-tumble action treatment focusing on a different side of Holmes, as much martial arts and bare-knuckle boxing as deduction. (Downey was recently knocked out on the set by a stuntman when a fight scene got sloppy.) Guy Richie is in the directors chair for this one – and though we haven’t quite forgiven him for Swept Away, last year’s RocknRolla did deliver.
The Baron Cohen film is, of course, a comedy, and with Will Ferrell as Watson, Etan Cohen from Tropic Thunder writing the script, and Judd Apatow co-producing, we’re expecting plenty of laughs, bromance and double entendres – “just what is Sherlock doing with that pipe” etc etc… Studio exec Matt Tolmach added about the project: “Just the idea of Sacha and Will as Sherlock Holmes and Watson made us laugh. Sacha and Will are two of the funniest and most talented guys on the planet and having them take on these two iconic characters is frankly hilarious.”
So what do we foresee for the two Sherlock’s – well given the general tone of the films, we foresee Downey in the deerstalker – Cohen in a tweed thong. Both casting choices could work depending on the scripts.
Downey Jr. has proven his versatility, having pulled off the English accent in Chaplin. He will surely explore Holmes’s cocaine addiction and we know he has no problem playing tortured roles. Finally, last year’s Iron Man showed he has the brawn for action.
Likewise, Cohen has proven himself time and again in comedy roles and has the whole British thing going for him. He did do a nicely rounded period character in “Sweeney Todd” but given this is a Cohen/Ferrell comedy, we don’t expect much emphasis to be placed on that side on things – in fact, we’d put money on a make-out scene between Holmes and Watson in the first twenty minutes….
You’ve read the facts – now get deducing – which Sherlock movie will come out on top?