the new sherlock holmes movie?

[vanitashaze]

OMG SO MUCH FUN. I fully expected Holmes and Watson to be awesome, as I'm a big fan of both actors, and I was not disappointed. What pleasantly surprised me, however, was the female characters. From what little I had heard of the movie / source text - not to mention, the portrayal of women in these types of movies in general - I expected Irene to swan in, be just interesting enough to pique Holmes' interest, then get "in over her head" (oh yes, I was totally cringing at that point), and then have to be rescued by Holmes for the rest of the movie. But here's the thing, you guys - I was wrong! While she did have to be rescued by Holmes (once), and pushed off a bridge by the bad guy (once), she was also kick-ass, fought men & did not faint or get knocked out, and handcuffed a naked Holmes to a bed. Not to mention, the climactic moment, in which the machine needs to be disabled? She's the brains, while Holmes and Watson are the distraction! And, as if that weren't enough, she crossdresses. Several times. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. Mary, too, was another character who I expected to dislike but was instead very cool. I thought the actress did a very good job of portraying a character who was quite out of her element, but instead of being trampled Holmes' rather nasty wit*, held her own, and was intelligent enough to see right through Holmes' disguise (both physical and emotional). Other than the Irene/Holmes chemistry - which, yes, was there - her relationship with Holmes is probably one of the most interesting in the movie. I refer you to fish_echo's thoughts on the subject, which are more or less mine, and probably expressed much more coherently than I am feeling right now.

*He is totally that psycho ex that your new beau keeps insisting isn't that bad, really!

In conclusion? Would (and will!) watch again. And I'm really, really hoping for a sequel, but failing that I will settle for a nice big pile of OT4 (or OT3, I suppose) fic recs. Deliver, fandom!