Review of "Sherlock" The Abominable Bride TV 2016

Gun Watch ^ | 8 January, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is enjoyable fiction that has millions of fans across the world over a hundred years.  It glorifies reason, logic, and observation of facts.  I do not consider myself a fan, but have enjoyed reading several of the novels and short stories.  The BBC has created a successful television series featuring the Holmes and Watson characters in a modern setting.  I have seen one of those episodes, and it did not seem too bad, though the focus on Holmes as a drug addict was a bit grotesque.  The new movie is based on the characters from the TV series.  The movie is advertised as a a period piece set in Victorian England.  One expects a classic story in the Arthur Conan Doyle style. 

I found myself in front of a Television set a few days ago, an unusual occurrence.  I was visiting. Without an Internet connection, and constrained at another persons residence, a new movie based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character, set in Victorian England, sounded as though it would offer entertainment.  I was wrong.  One word from the movie's title describes it. Abominable.

If you are a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, I advise you not to watch this movie.  After I had seen it, I sincerely regretted wasting my time in doing so.  To put it bluntly, the movie is a very bad example of bait and switch.

There are some interesting guns in the movie.  There is a pair of 1873 Colt revolvers, a double barrelled shotgun, some Webleys that seem to be interchanged without regard for consistency, but there is little consistency in the movie.

I will avoid spoilers.  It is not hard, as there is hardly any plot to the movie.  There is no deduction, no facts, no line of reasoning based on minute and accurate observations of detail that an acute observer could use to advantage.  This is not a mystery or detective story; this is a psycodrama based on emotion, illusion, and most importantly, a glorification of political correctness.

There seems to be only one constant theme in the movie; a desire to degrade the image of Sherlock Holmes and Watson; to attack everything that made the original series enjoyable and entertaining, as a way to glorify and justify current politically correct attitudes.

In one scene Holmes is completely taken in by an obvious disguise that Watson immediately sees through, as does probably 95% of the theater audience.  Such deception is simply impossible for the character in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels.

I watched it.  I was disgusted.  It was something you would expect in an Orwellian universe where history has to be altered to fit the current political scheme. 

In defense of the writer, he did not do this to an actual Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story, but created an entirely new abomination.

For that,  I guess, I can be thankful.

 Â©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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[marktwain]

Warning: This movie is not a period piece Sherlock Holmes mystery, as advertised.

It is simply a celebration of political correctness.

[Tennessee Nana]

Basil and Nigel please...

[csivils]

I don’t know what it was intended to be, but it was not like the earlier shows with the same actors... It was horrible and I gave up 2/3rds the way through.

[MUDDOG]

Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson are my Holmes/Watson on radio.

[Resettozero]

The TV episode was a special after-Christmas gift to the many regular viewers of the three Sherlock seasons so far. It would not be understood well enough by occasional or once-only viewers such as Dean Weingarten, who is way over his head reviewing this particular incredibly-well-scripted episode of Sherlock.

[Don Hernando de Las Casas]

I believe Sherlock used quite a bit of cocaine in the original books.

[BwanaNdege]

Agreed!

[nopardons]

IT STUNK ON ICE !
And I am a fan of the usual series, modern though they made; it made sense. This POS? NO !

[yarddog]

I have been a Sherlock Holmes fan for many years.

I liked the old Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce movies tho they were not high quality productions. I will say that Nigel Bruce did a remarkable rendition of “Loch Lomand” in one of the movies.

I guess the Jeremy Brett series was the best I have seen. It did stick pretty closely to the original stories.

I really wish that Rathbone and Bruce had been able to star in high quality productions which stuck to the original plots. They were really good actors.

[nopardons]

HOGWASH AND IN SPADES !

I've watch every single episode of this series, just as I had with the wonderful Jeremy Brett one.

This one off STUNK ON ICE AND THEN SOME !

I am a BIG forever fan of Sherlock Holmes, from the Basil Rathbone ones on down and have also read all of the stories to boot.

[Shugee]

Very well said. I loved it and have watched every episode of this modern BBC adaptation from the beginning. Many laugh out loud moments for me as a lover of subtle, sly humor with touchbacks to previous episodes.

[yarddog]

Yes Holmes did use cocaine but remember this was in Victorian England or a little later.

Also Dr. Watson keeps telling Sherlock that the Cocaine is bad for his health.

[nopardons]

I agree.

[Marie Antoinette]

This is not, and never has been a true rendering of the classic. It’s all been very modern and I have watched every show. This was not a bait and switch in the least. Even the weird P.C. speech he gave about women voting was a bit out of character for this Sherlock. He basically lacks any empathy at all, so that was odd, but throughout the story it was mentioned that many of the thoughts came from John Watson’s stories and descriptions of Sherlock. So. I liked it, but will have to watch it again.

[nopardons]

It was cocaine....a 7 percent solution. :-)
It also WAS still the Victorian ear...not quite Edwardian.

[Excellence]

Thank you. I watched it twice.

[Fiddlstix]

Yes. I am a Sherlock "fanatic". I have everything Conan-Doyle wrote.
I also have various writings about Doctor Joseph Bell The man that Holmes character was based on.
Great Stuff!
I Love It!

[Calvin Locke]

Weingarten is pretty spot on. The PCness oozed out of it, not to mention encouraging mariticide, bearing false witness, etc.

It was quite the disappointment, imo.

I'm less likely to watch any future pablum of this series. The artsy, overdone, editing didn't help either.

Some gift.

[yarddog]

My Daughter gave me a Sherlock Holmes dictionary around 20 years ago. The forward was written by (darn I have a mental block and can’t think of his name) anyway he played Count Dookoo in one of the Star Wars movies.

He was considered an expert on Holmes. He also portrayed him at least once.

[Jack Straw from Wichita]

Christopher Lee