Film Analysis

Sherlock Holmes

Ordinary World: Sherlock Holmes solves murder cases with Dr. Watson, Dr. Watson is getting married, they get in arguments "you have to leave this room!"

Call to Adventure: Lord Blackwood requests to see Sherlock Holmes before he is hanged. "There's only one person I'd like to see." Holmes goes to talk to Lord Blackwood and Blackwood says that something bigger is going on "Your error of judgment is to assume that I'm holding the brush at all. I'm merely the channel." He also says that Holmes and himself are together in something. Before he is hanged, he says, "Death is only the beginning." Also, Irene Adler comes to visit Holmes She needs his help. "I need you to find someone."

Refusal of the Call: Holmes doesn't listen to Blackwood.

Meeting with the Mentor: "Why is the only woman you've ever cared about a criminal? Are you a masochist?" Watson tells him not to take the case for various reasons.

Crossing the Threshold: Clark comes in and says, "It appears he's come back from the grave, sir." The gravekeeper says he saw Blackwood rise from the grave. He also says, "And when the dead walk, the living will fill these coffins."

Tests, Allies, Enemies: Some men try to beat them up. A big metal thing almost hits Holmes, but Watson saves him. Watson and Holmes get thrown in jail. Mary bails Watson out. Holmes gets bailed out and then "kidnapped" and taken to a mysterious man, who he discovers is Blackwood's father. Holmes goes to talk to Irene and she knocks him out. Blackwood kills his father in the bathtub. Irene ties Holmes to the bed. Holmes finds a secret entryway in Blackwood's father's house. Holmes gets Watson to rejoin the investigation. Holmes has to save Adler from being killed. Holmes accidentally sets off an explosion. coward issues a warrant for Holmes' arrest and Clark helps him escape.

Approach: Watson has been badly hurt and Holmes has a strange dream of all the things different people have said to him. When he wakes up, he gives a speech to Watson and Adler telling them how they will solve the case.

Ordeal: Men sent by Coward come to get them. Holmes stays while Adler and Watson escape. Holmes is arrested again by the inspector and sent to coward. Holmes is in handcuffs and Coward is about to shoot him when he smokes up the room, unlocks the handcuffs, runs away from Coward and jumps out the window into the water.

Reward: Watson and Adler rescue Holmes in a boat and they are able to continue solving the case.

The Road Back: They go to stop Blackwood from killing Parliament. They find what Reordan was working on and discover that Blackwood is using it to poison Parliament. Adler stops the machine just in time before it kills Parliament and escapes with the poison while Holmes and Watson fight off a bad guy. Holmes runs to catch Adler while Watson makes the bad guy pass out.

Ressurection: Holmes and Adler end up on a high construction site when Blackwood appears. Blackwood pushes Adler off and then Holmes and Blackwood fight. Holmes almost falls off, but gets back up and chases Blackwood. Blackwood gets a rope tied around his leg and is about to fall off when Holmes tells him how he performed his "magic." Holmes cuts him loose and tells him he is going to be hanged. Blackwood tries to kill Holmes with an axe but falls into some chains and is hanged by them. Holmes handcuffs Adler and then she tells him who she works for.

Return With Elixir: Holmes gives Adler the key and then leaves her, even though he loves her. Holmes tells Mary and Dr. Watson that he discovered how Blackwood survived the hanging and how he had no pulse. Clack comes in to tell Holmes that a sergeant was shot and Holmes figures out that it was Adler's boss. He also figures out that he wanted the wireless part of the machine, not the poison, and that Adler was only a distraction. Dr. Watson and Mary leave for their new home and Holmes tells Clark that the case has been reopened, even though Watson is leaving.