Welcome back everyone to Deeper Waters. Last night, I put our Trinitarian Commentary on hold because it was New Year’s Eve and I wanted to celebrate the New Year with a blog. Tonight, I’m putting it on hold because last night, I also saw the movie Sherlock Holmes. So I will be giving you readers my take on it. Before that, I do ask again your prayers as I continue on the path of Christlikeness. I also ask your prayers for my financial situation as I do have to make some decisions in that area very soon. Finally, I ask for your prayers regarding another area in my life related to both of these. I pray for the work of the Holy Spirit there. For now, let’s get to the review.
The movie starts with action immediately with Holmes and his assistant Watson. One scene early on has Holmes studying a man he’ll need to get past in combat and he analyzes his condition and how to best attack in a step-by-step procedure. There’s a reason Holmes was an inspiration for the creation of USA network detective, Adrian Monk. (Ironically, I finished reading “Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop”, right before I went to see this movie.
The mystery in the movie involves the case of a criminal who has recently been caught and then lo and behold, a few days later it is claimed that he has come back to life by the powers of black magic. He makes his presence known and tells the people that a new age is coming to England and he is in charge.
Hence, one of my friends wrote to me asking about non-Christian overtones and I would say they are there. Holmes, of course, is quite naturalistic not believing in anything supernatural in the movie apparently. Of course, I have no problem with seeking naturalistic explanations. I have a problem with ruling out all other explanations a priori.
The mystery itself is quite difficult to figure out and the viewer must pay attention to everything that happens and I do mean everything. It does make great use of flashbacks to go back and show earlier events that happened so the viewer can realize all the connections that he should have made earlier.
For those who want action, there won’t be a lack of it. Sherlock Holmes does have skill in combat, which is something that surprised me in the movie. Granted, I haven’t really read the mysteries of Holmes, but I don’t picture a detective like that being a fighter. However, he does fight more with his mind where he plans how he’ll attack and how his opponent will respond and how he’ll counter-attack, again in a step-by-step procedure.
Overall, my mind was distracted last night, so I’m not sure how much I was able to enjoy, but it was a pretty good film. I really don’t think many people will solve the mystery before the movie is over, but then, I suppose that’s what made Sherlock Holmes such a great detective.
Tomorrow, we continue our commentary.
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