The Quest for Truth
I have to admit I think the 2009 movie version of SHERLOCK HOLMES is better than its reputation.
(Spoilers for the movie’s plot follow)
It’s basically Sherlock Holmes as a more modern style action hero. Except the plot works. The villain is Lord Blackwood, who claims to be a wizard with sinister powers. Before his execution, Blackwood promises that he will return and exact vengeance upon all his enemies, including Holmes.
Blackwood is indeed executed and pronounced dead…only to return and begin his reign of terror. Quite a few people begin to believe that he is in fact a sorcerer.
My favorite scene is when Holmes confronts Blackwood for the last time, and calmly deconstructs all of Blackwood’s magical powers as misdirection, bribery, practical applications of chemistry, and simple con games.
That scene seems quintessentially Holmes – his logic and reasoning defeating the veil of tricks Blackwood used to build his terrifying reputation.
Which is why I think Holmes remains a popular character after nearly a hundred and forty years, as does the idea of a detective as the protagonist. The truth, as we all know, is sometimes an extraordinarily difficult thing to find, and the Internet has in many ways made the truth even harder to discern. So a character who quests after the truth can be an especially heroic figure.
-JM