Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Mark Strong: Lord Henry Blackwood

Photos 

Quotes 

• Lord Blackwood : Sherlock Holmes... and his loyal dog. Tell me, Doctor, as a medical man, have you enjoyed my work?

  Dr. John Watson : Let me show you how much I've enjoyed it...

  [He rushes at Blackwood, Holmes holds him back] 

  Sherlock Holmes : Watson, don't! Observe...

  [Watson sees Blackwood's trap] 

  Dr. John Watson : How did you see that?

  Sherlock Holmes : Because I was looking for it.

• Sherlock Holmes : First, the world will see you for what you are: a fraud. Then you'll be hanged - properly, this time.

  Lord Blackwood : It's a long journey from here to the rope.

• Governor : Lord Henry Blackwood, you are sentenced to death for the practice of black magic, the unholy murders of five innocent young women, and the attempted murder of a sixth. Have you any final words?

  Lord Blackwood : Death... is only the beginning.

• Sherlock Holmes : There was never any magic. Only conjuring tricks. The simplest involved paying people off, like the prison guard who pretended to be possessed outside your cell. Your reputation and the inmates fear did the rest. Others required more elaborate preparations like the sandstone slab that covered your tomb. You had it broken before your burial, then put back together using a mild adhesive. An ancient Egyptian recipe, I believe, a mixture of egg and honey designed to be washed away by the rain.

  Lord Blackwood : Holmes!

  Sherlock Holmes : Arranging for your father to drown in his own bathtub required more modern science. Very clever of Reordan to find a paralytic that was activated by the combination of copper and water and was therefore undetectable once the bath water was drained. That might have been quite a challenge for me had he not also tested it on some unfortunate amphibians. The death of Standish was a real mystery until you used the same compound to blow up the wharf. An odorless, tasteless flammable liquid yet it burned with an unusual pinkish hue. Did Standish mistake it for rain as he entered the temple? All it took was a spark. A simple rigged bullet in his gun. Ingenious. Like all great performers, you saved your piece de resistance for the end: A chemical weapon distilled from cyanide and refined in the bellies of swine. Had it worked your followers in Parliament would have watched unharmed as their colleagues were dying around them. They didn't know you'd given them the antidote. Instead, they would've believed it was magic and that you'd harnessed the ultimate power. And the world would've followed, fear being the most powerful weapon of all. You'd better hope that it's nothing more than superstition as you performed all the rituals perfectly. The devil is due a soul, I'd say.

  Lord Blackwood : For God's sake, Holmes, cut me loose.

  Sherlock Holmes : First, the world will see you for what you are. A fraud. Then you'll be hanged. Properly, this time.

  Lord Blackwood : It's a long journey from here to the rope.

• Lord Blackwood : My powers and my assets were given to me for one purpose. A magnificent, but simple purpose: to create a new future. A future ruled by us. Tomorrow at noon, we take the first step towards a new chapter in our history. Magic will lead the way. Once the people of England see our newfound power they'll bow down in fear. Across the Atlantic lies a colony that was once ours. It will be again. Their civil war has made them weak. Their government is as corrupt and as ineffective as ours... so we'll take it back. We will remake the world. Create the future.