What I've Been Watching - Movies

During my time away, I saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Mission Impossible 4. Here are my thoughts (in a capsulized version!).

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

In order to enjoy Guy Ritchie's take on the cerebral logic-deducing sleuth, you have to forget everything you ever thought you knew about Holmes: the hat, the pipe, Basil Rathbone, ... all of it. Ritchie's Holmes is a feisty, fighting, hot sexy mess. With that being said, if you can put all that aside, you might be able to enjoy A Game of Shadows. I did. It was supposed to be fun and it was. The chemistry between Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) was so strong that you didn't even miss the lack of any romantic lead. Holmes's friend, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) and Kelly Reilly as Watson's soon-to-be-missus barely rated any real screen time. Sherlock Holmes was about the boys with a colorful turn by Stephen Fry as Holmes's brother Mycroft and Jared Harris as the evil Moriarty, Holmes ultimate nemesis.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I didn't read the book. I never read the book. The movie will never be like the book, so what's the point? An author has pages to describe scenery and characters inner thoughts and dialogues. They can fill the pages with quirky characters. A screenwriter has roughly 120 pages and is limited to dialogue and short bits of action. Having said that, I went into The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with high hopes. However, while the movie was 'good', it wasn't the 'great' experience I was expecting. I've never seen Rooney Mara before but I enjoyed her performance. As the unstable background investigator she was at turns angry and rage-filled, vulnerable and even loving. This was her show and she carried it well. If she doesn't get a boat=load of nominations during award season, I will be surprised. However, there were some plot twists that I questioned ... maybe because I haven't read the book; however, I shouldn't have to read the book to understand the film. And be warned, there is a brutal rape scene and those always make me uneasy.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

I have enjoyed the Mission Impossible series and looked forward to seeing this. My friend Kiera and I were part of the Christmas Day throng that filled the theater to see this latest installment. Disguises and action sequences are what MI movies are all about and there were several scenes where the audience audibly gasped. Joined by a new crew, (Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg), Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is out to find out who bombed the Kremlin and to retrieve some rogue nuclear missiles pointed at the US. The stunts were amazing and there were some great action sequences and fight scenes. I loved the first Mission: Impossible but with II and III, I was a little disappointed. Ghost Protocol was up there with the original for me. My dad loves action and I actually recommended this to him.