In typical Ritchie style, Holmes begins with a burst of action, as Holmes and the suddenly very agile and skilled Watson are called in to stop Lord Blackwood(Mark Strong) from murdering a woman in cold blood as part of a ritual. Blackwood captured, but promising that the affair is far from over, he is sent to be hanged. His feet dangled, Watson declares him dead, and that should've been the end of it. However shortly thereafter, reports begin to circulate that Blackwood still walks the Earth. The case reopened, Holmes and Watson are called reluctantly back into service to find out what's going on.
Of course there's more going on than meets the eye. Downey's Holmes is less a gentleman scholar than an eccentric savant, prone to whining fits and intense jealousy. In particular he's jealous of Watson's relationship with his future wife, Mary. Of who he's jealous of, I'm not sure. Her or him? Holmes frequently destroys his own room at 221 Baker Street, out of petty fits more than anything else. But there's still something likable about his Sherlock. He's instantly more formidable than any of the previous incarnations of the character, even if it comes somewhat at the expense of his famed deduction skills. This is a Guy Ritchie film, afterall, and Holmes(who was always a bare knuckle fighter and swordsman) gets plenty of opportunity to show off these skills in typical comic fashion. The action sequences are very similar to Ritchie's other films, Rocknrolla
and Snatch
in particular, in that they are brutal bursts of cartoonish violence. Both terrible and laughable at the same time.There's a love story somewhere hidden in the comic hijink, involving Rachel McAdams as Holmes' longtime love, Irene Adler. Adler, one of the few women Holmes showed any genuine interest in, was also one of the few smart enough to outwit him. They make light of that fact early and often here as well, and McAdams plays the part well even if she doesn't have a whole lot to do. She and Downey make a powerful pair on screen, and the dialogue pops whenever the two are together. The same can be said for Downey and Law as the original Dynamic Duo. The original Watson was little more than Holmes' timid counterpart, merely a doctor and a sounding board for the great detective. I like Law's version better. A smooth, calculating mind gifted with as much common sense as Holmes is given logical sense.
My last memories of Sherlock Holmes on screen were in the film, Young Sherlock Holmes
, notable not just because of how good it was but because of it's loyalty to the Doyle canon. It was an ingenious production, to be honest, and featured the first fully CGI character in film history. This version of Sherlock Holmes, while wildly different than that and any other version, is just as entertaining and makes for one hell of a fun ride. The end already suggests a sequel, and I for one am looking forward to it.7/10
