Sherlock Holmes has always been a favourite of mine. My wife just bought me the whole collection for christmas and I have been reading through it. Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle has created a true masterpiece, it's fun and inventive with a main character that is very delightful. Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr. have created a little bit of a different Sherlock. He's still funny, and wedding-phobic but a little bit rude at times, some people may not appreciate this. Sure Mr. Doyle's Sherlock is witty and socially inept, but this quality is picked on quite regularly in this film. What we get is something truly entertaining, but just because we are entertained does not mean this movie is without it's faults.
The movie begins with Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) walking through a busy corridor in London and of course Holmes is hiding in his deceptive outfit. She sets him up, and eventually gets killed by the man who hired her. Now the story just gets muddled after this because we go into Watson (Jude Law), vowing to get married and be away from Holmes. Meanwhile, Holmes finds corruption with a famous professor and he is targeting Watson on his honeymoon, and on we go. After the train scene, where Holmes is dressed up as a lady, this movie never lets up. We are introduced to some very unusual and entertaining characters as well.
The Acting is great in this film. It is just plain fun to see Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. I liked this film because of all of his outfits, he's a beggar, a woman and the list goes on and on. This reminded me of Doyle's stories and how Sherlock dresses up randomly and was great at spying, we see this much more in this one as oppose to the first film. The banter between Law and Downey Jr. is worth the price of admission, the banter is as fast and furious as the action and this keeps the movie going at top speed. The supporting role of Holmes' brother (Stephen Fry) is also a treat to watch. The banter between the two and just the sheer ridiculousness of Fry's character is always fun.
One thing Guy Ritchie is very good at is making a fast paced film. Sometimes it's too fast though, and we get lost in the intricate stories and situations. This is what happens in this film, all of a sudden there are new characters and plot points and all of a sudden people are fighting in a bar. It is a lot to take in and if you aren't used to Ritchie's films, then, there might be trouble in following the story. Also, Sherlock Holmes' character is not very likeable, sure he was a jerk and social freak in the book but not to this extent. There is some sentimentality in the end between the two characters but one part is not nearly enough, it takes the "beloved" out of story. The story is good, but it develops fast without much explaining, when things blow up and awesome action sequences happen, we sometimes don't really know what is going on, it might be awesome, but the story gets lost.
The last thing I want to say about this film, it's a fun action piece. It's cheap entertainment and almost rides the grind-house-exploitation-film line, this might turn some people off. The action in this film is awesome. Transformers can learn from the cinematography in this film, the action is crystal clear and awesome. The fight in the bar scene is fun, the sniper shoot out at an empty base is stellar, and the escape from that base is my favourite scene of the film. The use of the high speed camera is awesome, it's a unique action sequence, I've never seen anything like it. Clearly this movie was made for those action set pieces. This is a funny, clever and fun mystery movie that never lets up the action, even if it leaves us in the shadows once in a while.
Rated PG-13 for Violence, Some nudity, Mature themes.
Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams, Jude Law, Stephen Fry, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris
Directed by: Guy Ritchie. Written by: Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney
