Guy Ritchie shows us a Sherlock Holmes who's not only a super-sleuth but also a super-brawler in 2009's Sherlock Holmes. With Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr in the title role, this most definitely isn't your mother's Sherlock Holmes. It's not stately or subdued, and this Holmes seems more at home in a boxing ring than in a drawing room amongst the upper-crust of society. Ritchie and screenwriters Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg give us a Holmes who likes to get his hands dirty, a Holmes who uses his fists and fighting skills as effectively as he uses his analytical skills.
This is a much more action-oriented Sherlock Holmes, one that's likely to win over younger audiences who really don't know much at all about the pipe-smoking character created by Arthur Conan Doyle and first introduced to audiences back in 1887. Casting Downey Jr. in the lead was not only a good choice based on his ability to pull off diverse characters, but also a great marketing decision because of his cross-generational appeal. Downey Jr handles action - and a British accent - well, and his Holmes is both a lover and a fighter. We buy both of these aspects of his character, despite the fact that for much of the film he looks like a bum, because Downey Jr is just so darned engaging. Throw in a bromance between Downey Jr and Jude Law as Dr. Watson, and this new take on the classic story proves to be a snappy, fast-paced, albeit confusing, action comedy that's smarter than the average fare.
The Story:
I'll admit it, I have no idea what really happens in Sherlock Holmes. It's one of the few movies where the audience doesn't figure everything out up front and then wait through an hour or so of filler just to see it all play out as predicted. The plot's confusing and convoluted, but refreshingly so. Does it make sense? I don't know, but it doesn't matter since getting to the end of the story and the final reveal is a whole lot of fun.
Robert Downey Jr and Rachel McAdams in 'Sherlock Holmes.'
© Warner Bros Pictures/Village Roadshow PicturesWhat's absolutely obvious even to me, having admitted I didn't follow all the ins and outs of the story, is that the plot revolves around an aristocrat named Lord Blackwood (the always terrific scene-stealer Mark Strong) who's engaged in black magic...or so everyone assumes. Caught in the act of attempting to murder a young woman by Holmes and Watson, Lord Blackwood is sentenced to death. We watch him die...or so we believe. But even death can't stop Lord Blackwood from terrorizing London. With the game afoot, Holmes and Watson must figure out how Blackwood cheated death, how he's able to pull the strings of some very powerful people, what his ultimate plan is for the city he's set on edge, and how he manages to always stay one step ahead of the police.
The Cast
Robert Downey Jr is outstanding, as always. The older he gets, the better he gets. Matching Downey's razor-sharp delivery is Jude Law as a Dr. Watson who handles his share of fights while trying to be a calming presence for the hyperactive Holmes. Holmes is addicted to cracking cases (that may not be all he's addicted to), and Dr. Watson is constantly on the verge of leaving the crime-solving team for a real personal life with the pretty Mary Morstan (played by Kelly Reilly). Law's Watson is the straight man of the pair, the mature, responsible adult counter-balancing Downey Jr's rascally Holmes. The two butt heads and argue like an old married couple, and even though we pick up the story deep into their friendship, Law and Downey Jr let us believe these men have been bickering-and backing each other up-for years.As for the females of Sherlock Holmes, Reilly's great although she's not given much to do. She's not window-dressing, but close. Rachel McAdams shows up off-and-on throughout Sherlock Holmes playing Irene Adler, the one person who actually got the better of Holmes. Holmes and Irene have a history, and McAdams and Downey have real chemistry. In fact, the threesome of Downey Jr, McAdams, and Law are so good, when some combination of the three isn't together the movie noticeably lags.
The Bottom Line
Guy Ritchie's Victorian London is gritty and dark, and the film's color palette is toned down to match the setting. But toning down the color is the only thing Ritchie tones down as he takes Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson on a wild adventure through the backstreets, ballrooms and boardrooms of London.
Mark Strong and Robert Downey Jr in 'Sherlock Holmes.'
© Warner Bros Pictures/Village Roadshow PicturesRitchie (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRolla, Snatch) doesn't scrimp on big action set pieces, sometimes to the detriment of any actual story. But since the story is so difficult to follow, it doesn't really matter that the action bits overpower the dialogue-driven scenes. Sherlock Holmes careens madly all over the place in joyous abandon, and it's best to just go with the flow and not worry about trying to make heads or tails of the story. Just have fun watching Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law take down the bad guys, Rachel McAdams camping it up as a vivacious, naughty woman, and Mark Strong showing how deliciously good he is at playing bad.
Sherlock Holmes makes a good case for the return of the brilliant Victorian detective, and the film definitely sets up a sequel. If Sherlock Holmes #2 gets made, here's hoping we get more time with - and more witty banter between - the threesome of Downey Jr, McAdams and Law. The action scenes were terrific, but it's the relationship between Holmes, Watson and Adler that provided the real fun.
GRADE: B
Sherlock Holmes was directed by Guy Ritchie and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material.
Theatrical Release: December 25, 2009
Disclosure: This review is based on a screening provided by the studio. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
