Scene: Holmes vs. McMurdo in Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Actors: Holmes: Robert Downey, jr McMurdo: David Garrick
Stuntmen: none, the actors do the fights. Be it so noted that Garrick is a boxer (not an actor necessarily but a stuntman in several things, including Batman and Bourne) and Downey jr. has experience in Wing Chun kung fu.
Scenario: Holmes and McMurdo in a bare-knuckle boxing match at what I as a Sherlockian nerd can only assume is Allison's rooms.
Style: Victorian England, bare-knuckle boxing, also a touch (for Holmes) of Bartitsu
Genre: 2 (expressionistic), c (swashbuckling)
--it does look rather realistic (1) at the beginning, but once we get to the Sherlockian POV and especially the slo-mo and inner monologue, it turns to the expressionistic. It's not a funny fight (a) nor is it scary/icky (b) though we do get pain/fatigue in good measure. So I chose c (swashbuckling).
Three Rules: I am choosing to discuss Holmes' Rules, as McMurdo is so small a part that he is merely one of the obstacles more than a pivotal factor in the rest of the story. If I were David Garrick, however, of course I would go through these rules for myself to prepare.
- Objective: This is an exhibition fight, so Holmes' objective is To Win. Life and limb is not at stake, except where McMurdo's power to hurt him seriously is concerned. Money is certainly a factor in his need to win. His objective takes a turn in the middle of the fight as he notices Irene Adler in the audience, so a sub-objective becomes To See What She Is Up To.
- Tactics: we can see Holmes using basic defensive boxing maneuvers until he is clocked so hard he pirouettes twice and falls. Seeing Adler in the crowd, he then takes a moment to set up a sequence of tactics in his own head before physically executing them. It's nice as an audience to see this, as we can hear what he's planning and why, before we see the results.
- Obstacles: getting clocked pretty gosh darned hard in the face, getting distracted by Adler, McMurdo's not only size but skill
Other Questions: This is a set-up sport fight, and there's lots of betting going on, so it is ostensibly a fair fight. But the audience's reaction after Holmes' victory makes one wonder whether his superior ninja skills weren't considered fair in Victorian England. One doesn't know if this is an underground fight club or if it's okay with the law that this is going on. This scene establishes Holmes as a skilled boxer, as he is in the old stories, and it lands rather early on in the movie so it's more establishing character for the viewer than anything else. The fight itself brings more clues to Holmes as he sees Adler there in the crowd, though that's not why he's there in the first place.
I chose this scene because I'm a giant Sherlock Holmes nerd, and as much as I adore several of the TV/film adaptations of the old stories, none have quite gotten Holmes' fighting prowess quite right, whereas the Downey jr. Holmes pretty much centers around an action-flick version of the detective. I like it especially because not only do we get a glimpse into Sherlock Holmes' incredible brain in the midst of a fight, but it's a pretty authentic (though expressionistic) showcase of fight styles from England back then. ~Prof. Jenn
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