Sherlock Holmes

Plot Summary.

Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 film directed by the infamous London gangster film director, Guy Ritchie ( Whose other films include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and RocknRolla. ) It's a film about an infamous freelance detective whose set onto the case of the evil but equally well known Lord Blackwood. After capturing and supposedly hanging the fallen lord, it appears to be Watson's final case with the reclusive genius as Watson prepares to leave and to be married. However, when rumor arises that Lord Blackwood has risen from the grave and more deaths begin adding up, it's simply a matter of time before Sherlock and Watson are reunited for what could be their final case. Filled with mysteries and puzzles, it's a race against time for the two to solve the mystery and restore peace to London once more. It stars Robert Downey, Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong.

 Trailer.

Review.

I'd been looking forward to this film since I'd first heard of its production and seen the initial poster art. While I can't say I'm a big fan of the books which by popular opinion are some of the greatest in history, I can say that like many I grew up with a brief understanding of the iconography behind the opium fueled detective, ever accompanied by his trusted sidekick and shuffling through the dark streets of London. It was all very nice and quaint and the films that did show Sherlock Holmes painted him as a genius renaissance man who never put a foot wrong and obeyed the very letter of the law. It was nice, complacent and utterly boring. It's for this reason the idea of combining a typically comedy actor like Robert Downey Jr and an action packed dark comedy director like Guy Ritchie with it filled me with both apprehension and dread, as it could go either way. I'm admittedly a fan of Robert Downey Jr as an actor. I think he's one of the most versatile but charismatic actors in the business and I have thus far enjoyed the bulk of his work, Guy Ritchie similarly knows how to make a funny but tense film, as shown by his previous works. As such I'd set my expectations high, although many had set theirs low because of the stigmatic that comes with the Guy Ritchie brand following his divorce and reasonably simple films.

That said, I did enjoy this film. Robert Downey Jr took the idea of Sherlock Holmes and ran with it to give the detective a light but distinctly roguish air that til that point he had been perfecting in his other post breakdown blockbusters, ( Iron Man, Tropic Thunder. ) and I've got to say I was impressed. It would be easy for someone tasked with the role of an embittered sociophobic drug-addled genius to just sit and watch several series of House, and belt out a few stunning one liners from Hugh Laurie's vast team of writers, Hugh Laurie playing off that same character type with exceptional style, but in Sherlock Holmes we see something new. It's familiar, don't get me wrong. All of the tell tale traits appear within, from a nervous tick to a series of other odd mannerisms but it's done in such a light hearted fashion that the darkness within his character seems to vanish. It's nice for the casual observer like myself who was expecting some sort of extended belt of sympathetic misery, but for the puritans who follow the every word of Arthur Conan Doyle I imagine it was like watching a loved one being sodomized in a shed. Sure, he's not the foreboding character that you've always wanted to see, but you can't deny, he's got style. Another element of Sherlock that I really enjoyed in this was the fact he wasn't afraid to get int a fight. Sherlock Holmes seems to have been stereotyped as a gangly fuck who couldn't hold his magnifying glass and hat at once without crouching into a stoop from the sheer weight. A weed, a classic toff. However, for the time period and history to have been a detective in such a way, Sherlock Holmes would have had to have gotten violent, and been good at it. He'd also have put in wagers and been a man's man to socialize. To me, the fact he could knock seven shades of shit out of someone using science was a goldmine of joy.

( Sherlock about to be initiated into Fight Club. )

Jude Law played an exceptional Watson, I'm happy to add. I'm dubious of Jude Law. He's a strange sort of actor that throws himself headlong into awful films for money, and it's never reflected well on him. But in saying that, he's shown in the past he is a reasonably talented actor ( The Talented Mr Ripley among others. ) in quite a few films. It's irritating, because when I see his name I'm able to recognize his achievements but at the same time I'm still filled with dread, but as I have said before he was exceptional. Played down in a way that allows him to still punch out funny one liners without competing with Downey Jr, he's the classic straight man to the double act and there's a definite on screen chemistry between the two. Often providing the strong supportive roles, I was entirely happy with his performance. Rachel McAdams wasn't someone I warmed to immediately. I haven't seen her in many films and so her name didn't mean as much to me as the fore mentioned cast. Having someone in an England based film with an American accent similarly seemed out of place and it took me a while to gel to her. But the strange thing was, I did. I'm not sure when it happened, probably around her kidnapping but suddenly it all seemed to make sense. It's strange and difficult to describe, so I'll put it down to sorcery and have it at that.

Speaking of sorcery, Mark Strong was a fantastic choice for the evil lord Blackwood. There's something incredibly sinister about a man that looks like an Italian Dracula, and be it his tone of voice to his actual on screen physicality he screams throughout the film as a man who really shouldn't be fucked with. It's nice to see a strong character who can give punch to the role of the villain without camping it up for the purpose of over lauding the cinema-goers. It was reasonably tastefully played and I enjoyed the rendition.

( A demonstration of well placed pillows. )

As always we've hit the sickly sweet center of this review that is commonly known as the plot assessment. I'm not going to lie to you, there were great gashes like black holes swirling within this little scenario. Guy Richie is a man whose talent lays in sweeping someone along for the ride without putting too much thought to it and when you break down the idea of the magicians cult and the machine that had been developed in pieces by a series of men that for all intensive purposes privately re-invented the wheel in their closet spaces, it's a wafer thin idea. There again, stranger things happened in the books with just the same artistic liberty and I can't really criticism them as I would be burned at the stake by a cult of Doylies. One thing however I really enjoyed about this particular plot was that there was a strange kind of mutual affection between Sherlock and Watson. Light hearted and playful, the interactions between the two in a kind of brotherly love shows hints at something slightly uncomfortable ( To quote JD from Scrubs, "It's Guy Love, Between Two Guys." ) between the two. I really enjoyed the bantering between them and the bickering, and I think it was Sherlock's reluctance to let go of his friend that really gave the likable depth to his character. The love hate relationship between Rachel McAdams and Downey Jr and the hinting at the arrival of Moriarty, the ultimate rival of Sherlock provide tantalizing tweaks for the next film but ultimately this film was made on building up a picture of the detective's relationship with his best friend. A buddy movie.

( The two friends, chilling back and soiling themselves. )

The special effects were great and for the most part were money well spent. I can't say I agreed with all of the prop choices, several looking like constructs from a school play in retrospect, but the cattle-prod and the explosions from the ship were well worth while.

The music by Hans Zimmer was nice enough, and although I couldn't sing a note of it I still remember that I had no adverse feelings to it. It lent itself well.

Overall, this film was a rip roaring success. I really enjoyed it and I'd advise it to anyone. Well worth the money spent.