Sherlock Holmes Review

Sherlock Holmes, 2009

Reviewed by John

Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Written by: Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong

First, I'll admit that I was going in expecting Downey to channel Tony Stark as he plays the part of Holmes, but to my surprise he didn't really do it.  Actually I think he revisited a bit of his drug-induced, mad, and crazy eighties self to pull off this characterization of Holmes.  Which I'll have to say is good, since Holmes has been written as a person that was in constant pursuit of knowledge - even if the knowledge came from being his on guinea pig. 

Jude Law, however, as Dr. John Watson, was at times superb and at other times flat.  He did a fine job as Holmes' partner, but I felt that the whole attempt to pull away from the partnership in the face of Watson's impending marriage was a bit forced. 

Now as for the story, well, I liked it.  It wasn't too far from traditional Holmes story, and it had a nice multilayering to it.  This was shown by Irene Alder and Moriarty manipulating everyone into doing what they needed from them. 

I really liked how bullet-time/slow motion was used early on to show how Holmes would think out a fight before it actually took place. 

All in all, I'll give the movie 4 out of 5.  It hit most of the things that I like about the Holmes stories while keeping the pacing good and the overall fun at a high.