History Film / SherlockHolmes2009

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:In the end, while Blackwood himself is revealed to definitely not possess any magical powers, the nature of [[ContrivedCoincidence his death]], along with some mysterious coincidences such as a raven that can be keeps appearing throughout the film during Blackwood's scenes, is this. With his death in particular a crane just happens to randomly break away and entangles his neck in chains, hanging him exactly as he was sentenced to be. It could be nothing more than mere coincidence, or the vague possibility that Blackwood genuinely did provoke sinister powers beyond his understanding, unbeknownst to even himself, during his theatrics.]]

''Sherlock Holmes'' is a 2009 film directed by Creator/GuyRitchie, starring Creator/RobertDowneyJr, Creator/JudeLaw, Creator/RachelMcAdams, and Creator/MarkStrong, and based on the Franchise/SherlockHolmes stories. The film updates (or maybe restores) Holmes and Watson as [[BadassBookworm thinking men of action]], with the addition of some modern blockbuster tropes and a zany Music/HansZimmer soundtrack.

* PublicDomainCharacter: The titular Franchise/SherlockHolmes.

*** When Watson comes to find Holmes after his boxing match in the first movie, Holmes' experiment with his violin and a jar full of flies is a recreation of a similar scene in the Creator/BasilRathbone film ''Film/{{The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes|1939}}''.

*** Holmes' semi-anachronistic automobile from ''Game of Shadows'' is a (probably unintentional) reference to ''Anime/SherlockHound'' an Italian-Japanese WorldOfFunnyAnimals adaptation from the mid-1980s that had Hound (Holmes) racing around in [[https://tinyurl.com/HoundCar an ornate car based on the Ford Quadricycle]].

* DoingInTheWizard: [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, Holmes beautifully deconstructs Blackwood's every known act of sorcery, explaining exactly how each was done via friends in high places, applied science, and plain old theatrics. He also notes that Blackwood had better ''hop''e the occult parts were all baseless superstition, since he did the rituals perfectly, save for the last soul he planned to offer...]]

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The first few minutes of the movie takes pains to illustrate how it is an ActionizedSequel, opening with Holmes and Watson racing to rescue a kidnap victim about to be murdered, crowned by Holmes essentially using his SherlockScan as a weapon.

* FlameSpewingObstacle: When Lord Blackwood has Irene Adler shackled to the pig slaughterhouse's assembly line, there are gas valves shooting gouts of flames. When Holmes finds a solution around this by using a blanket, there's still the matter of the bandsaw blade at the end of the line.

--> ''You had best hope it's not real, because you performed the ritual perfectly. The devil's due a soul, I think.''

* FauxSymbolism: Invoked in-universe. [[spoiler:Blackwood killed the five girls in locations that form a pentagram on a map when lines are drawn to connect them. The four victims he claims (or attempts to claim) during film form a cross through the pentagram. Further, each victim is connected to one of the four animals that make up the parts of the sphinx and is killed in a manner invoking one of the [[ClassicalElements four elements]]. However, it's all for show -- Blackwood has no magical powers ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane it seems]]) and is using the symbolism of his crimes to reinforce the idea he ''does'' have powers, making it easier to inspire loyalty and obedience through fear. Sherlock calls out that the ritualistic elements to his crimes are a ruse during the climax, but remarks that Blackwood had better hope none of it is real since "the devil's due a soul."]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:Blackwood's [[ContrivedCoincidence death]]. "You had best hope it's not real, because you performed the ritual perfectly. The devil's due a soul, I think." The raven - a normal bird that [[RedHerring coincidentally keeps appearing]], or ''[[{{Satan}} something]]'' keeping an eye on Blackwood?]]
** Blackwood's death involves having his ankle tangled in a rope tied to a heavy board that for ''some reason'' decides to fall at that precise moment. When Holmes cuts him loose, a crane randomly breaks away and tangles his ''neck'', hanging him as he was supposed to be hanged. The raven flies away and is never seen again...

** Watson. Holmes has some of this as well, being a master of calculated combat. When he uses the SherlockScan combo on his targets, it takes into account every reaction that the target would use; and shuts them down accordingly. The pragmatism in it is that it never lets the opponent get a hit in.

* AmericaIsStillAColony: While explaining his EvilPlan to the Temple of the Four Orders, Lord Blackwood says that after they've dominated England, they'll "take back" the colony across the Atlantic that was once theirs, which should be easy since ''"their government is as corrupt and ineffectual as ours."'' One of the members of the Temple listening to this speech is the U.S. Ambassador, Standish, and he is ''not'' amused.

* [[CarCushion Carriage Cushion]]: The 19th century version. A [[ManOnFire burning Standish]] falls [[DestinationDefenestration out of a window]] on top of a horse-drawn carriage.

* FauxSymbolism: Invoked in-universe. [[spoiler:Blackwood killed the five girls in locations that form a pentagram on a map when lines are drawn to connect them. The four victims he claims (or attempts to claim) during film form a cross through the pentagram. Further, each victim is connected to one of the four animals that make up the parts of the sphinx and is killed in a manner invoking one of the [[FourElementEnsemble four elements]]. However, it's all for show -- Blackwood has no magical powers ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane it seems]]) and is using the symbolism of his crimes to reinforce the idea he ''does'' have powers, making it easier to inspire loyalty and obedience through fear. Sherlock calls out that the ritualistic elements to his crimes are a ruse during the climax, but remarks that Blackwood had better hope none of it is real since "the devil's due a soul."]]

* FourElementEnsemble: The four murders planned by Blackwood correspond to the four classical elements:
** Earth: [[spoiler:Reordan is buried in Blackwood's dirt-filled coffin after being killed.]]
** Water: [[spoiler:Sir Thomas is [[DeadlyBath drowned in his bath]] when Blackwood sneaks a paralytic chemical into it.]]
** Fire: [[spoiler:Standish is [[KillItWithFire burned to death]] when his pistol backfires.]]
** Air: [[spoiler:Everyone in Parliament is nearly [[DeadlyGas killed by poison gas]]. Instead, Blackwood ends up hanging himself from a very high place.]]
** [[ViewersAreGeniuses This is never mentioned, at all.]] Presumably they wanted to be careful around [[Film/AngelsAndDemons another recent movie that had coincidentally pulled exactly the same trick.]]
** Additionally, [[spoiler:the elements are paired with their opposites for each murder.]]
*** Earth: [[spoiler:Reordan is strangled by [[MeaningfulName Dredger]] and dies from a lack of air.]]
*** Water: [[spoiler:Sir Thomas dies submerged in water that is heated by fire.]]
*** Fire: [[spoiler:Standish is immolated by fire, hastened by the fact that he was soaked in a chemical he took to be water.]]
*** Air: [[spoiler:Parliament would have been killed by poison gas pumped in from beneath the earth. Blackwood dies from a fall, denied the safety of solid ground.]]
** In addition, the four murders also correspond to four animals: the man, ox, lion, and eagle, which have various significances:
** In Literature/TheBible, cherubim are described in the Literature/BookOfEzekiel as having the faces of these four animals.
** In early Christian thought, they represent the authors of the four Gospels.
** They also represent the four classical elements, though their traditional attributions don't quite match up with the movie's elemental correspondences; namely, the eagle traditionally represents Air, but the victim in the movie who corresponds to the eagle is the Fire murder. [[spoiler:Of course, since the eagle is also a symbol of America, it makes sense that the writers would have the American victim be the eagle, so that little bit of artistic license is pretty well justified.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

The [[DevelopmentHell long-delayed]] third film is to be directed by Creator/DexterFletcher, though not much has moved forward on it yet.

* YouGotSpunk: Holmes' reaction to seeing Irene's response to being mugged.
-->'''Holmes:''' That's the Irene I knew.