Sherlock Holmes Review

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 12.25.2009

Sherlock Holmes is brought back to the big screen but can Guy Ritchie deliver the goods?

Directed by Guy Ritchie
Written by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg and Lionel Wigram based on the characters by Arthur Conan Doyle

Cast
Robert Downey Jr. ... Sherlock Holmes
Jude Law ... Dr. John Watson
Rachel McAdams ... Irene Adler
Mark Strong ... Lord Blackwood
Eddie Marsan ... Inspector Lestrade
Robert Maillet ... Dredger
Geraldine James ... Mrs. Hudson
Kelly Reilly ... Mary Morstan
William Houston ... Constable Clark
Hans Matheson ... Lord Coward
James Fox ... Sir Thomas
William Hope ... Ambassador Standish

Runtime: 128 min
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material.




Robert Downey Jr. has finally found his Captain Jack Sparrow and Guy Ritchie has directed his best film, all from a movie I went into with little to no expectations.

Sherlock Holmes looked to be a fun romp, a typical Christmas blockbuster that would entertain me, but nothing more. I never expected what I saw in this film. I am a huge Downey Jr. fan and believe he has a solid career of great roles from Natural Born Killers to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang to Iron Man. The guy is a serious movie star and it is his performance that helps Sherlock Holmes rise above its ambitions and become a great film.

Downey’s performance here reminds me of what Johnny Depp accomplished with his lead role in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Holmes is not completely over the top, but Downey takes this legendary character and makes him unique and a joy to watch. He is eccentric, observant and, at times, extremely introverted, yet through the entire movie he was the one constant thing that kept me glued to the screen.

There was a lot of controversy when the trailers were released as people seemed to believe they were making the detective into something he was not. The scenes with the underground fighting were touched upon as something that is simply not what Sherlock Holmes is all about.

Those people are wrong.

Sherlock Holmes is not the stoic detective many believe him to be. In the novels, he is known to utilize illegal drugs, including morphine and cocaine, when investigating cases. He appears to be a slob, living in quarters strung with papers and manuscripts, seeming to live in a state of chaos. He is infatuated with a woman named Irene Adler, the only woman to have ever impressed him. Holmes also never says “Elementary my dear Watson,” which is just as well since he never said it in the stories either. Oh, and in The Sign of Four, it is noted that Holmes is a formidable bare-knuckle fighter and was trained as a boxer.

Guy Ritchie takes all of the above information and strings it throughout his Sherlock Holmes tale and it is clear to me that, while it may seem strange on the surface, most of what is shown in the film is distinctly Sherlock Holmes, as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The movie might also find critics who don’t like the supernatural aspects of the case Holmes is working, but the supernatural has also been explored in the stories, specifically in Hound of the Baskervilles.

But what makes this movie so good is Ritchie’s ability behind the camera. The attraction of Holmes as a character is his skills as a detective and Ritchie uses the camera to show us everything Holmes is taking in, as he sees it. We see every clue he sees and as he pieces them together, we are able to do the same. Of course, we are not Sherlock Holmes so, while you may find one or two pieces of the puzzle, it is likely you won’t come to the same conclusions as Holmes.

At its heart, Sherlock Holmes is an old fashioned detective story. It is the type of tale you would read in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine or Ellery Queen. I was taken aback when the first scenes in the movie have Holmes stopping a ritualistic murder and arresting the serial killer. When the killer is unmasked, I had an instant vision of Scooby Doo that almost killed the movie for me before it ever got started, but thankfully Downey Jr.’s performance saved it and the rest of the movie picked up.

Downey Jr. delivers one of my favorite performances of 2009 but he would be too over-the-top if not for the grounding force of Jude Law’s Dr. Watson. I have never been the biggest Law fan but he turned in a solid performance here of the put-upon Dr. Watson, a man who loves his partner and will do anything for him, but needs to break away and find his own place in the world. It is not an origin story and begins after the two have had numerous cases together. This helps the movie find its footing and not get bogged down in the past. It doesn’t matter what kind of cases the two have worked on before because they bring us into their world, almost like an old married couple.

There are moments that threaten to bring the movie crashing down, such as an explosion of Jerry Bruckheimer levels, and a giant fight with former WWE wrestler Kurrgan that destroys an entire boat making factory. These scenes, I am sure, were added to keep the kids happy while never lessening the actual mystery surrounding the film. I will skip over revealing the actual case, as it is better to come into the movie fresh and try to deduct the end along with the master detective, but I will say it involves the occult.

There is also a cliffhanger that proves this is might become a franchise to rival Downey’s Iron Man, as classic Sherlock Holmes adversary Moriarty is always lurking in the background of the film.

Ritchie paints a canvas that is pure, classic Britain but gives the film the pacing and urgency of something much more modern. His use of images and symbolism is always on hand, such as a black bird that arrives whenever death approaches. He uses many techniques we are familiar with from his classic films, such as Snatch and Lock, Stock, but this is a much more matured Guy Ritchie. He has learned from his past experiments and this is the film where the director has finally come into his own. The trailers may not be the best example, but this is the perfect Sherlock Holmes film.

The 411: Sherlock Holmes arrives on Christmas Day and delivers all the balls-to-the-wall action you expect from a holiday blockbuster. But underneath all the explosions and fist fights is a smart mystery comparing well with the classic Arthur Conan Doyle tales. Robert Downey Jr. is a perfect fit for the Holmes character, proving to not only be a great actor for the role but a movie star that showcases how spectacular the original character really is. Guy Ritchie is extremely loyal to the source material and a majority of the things people have been complaining about are actually from the classic stories. This is Ritchie’s most mature work and Downey Jr. has delivered once again. It’s elementary, my dear Watson.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]