Review of Sherlock Holmes (2009) by Staffan J — 21 May 2013

Sherlock Holmes is inventive, silly, and ultimately a vigorous amount of fun. I supremely enjoyed the film on it's own merits, which by that I mean that I knew going in to it that it wouldn't have an Oscar winning screenplay or very deep characterization. What I was surprised with was an intriguing mystery, performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law that relish in the amount of fun they're having, and several action scenes worthy of placement among some of the other best such scenes of the year. And director Guy Ritchie directs with a surprising amount of visual flair and interesting/fresh ideas. A bit of a shame, really, that the movie is so dumb.

The best aspect of Sherlock Holmes is not Downey Jr, however, but Ritchie. On two occasions he flash forwards and we hear Sherlock thinking about how he will attack his opponent, what moves he will use, and even how long in the hospital the man will wind up being. It's a brilliant idea, and I wish it was used more often later in the film. But Ritchie has lots of fun little tricks up his sleeve like this, where often we zip around in time to try and catch up to Holmes. It doesn't always work, but it's on a level of imagination and cleverness I didn't really expect the movie to ever reach (or even attempt to reach).

Downey Jr might get an Oscar nod for his role, and while it's a lot of fun, this isn't exactly the Sherlock Holmes anyone expected. Perhaps that's a good thing - perhaps not. I never really got the feeling I was watching a Sherlock Holmes movie, especially when he springs into action and him and Watson kick a shit-ton of ass. The action sequences are sprightly and kinetic, but not so much that you can't tell what's going on (I'm looking at you, Michael Bay). Even the villian is more threatening and intriguing than I expected - the resolution of his mystery might be a little too coincidental and anticlimatic, but at that point we're having too much fun to care. Possibly the best aspect of the movie, aside from Ritchie's energetic direction, is the musical score by Hans Zimmer, which playfully bounces between sounding like Pirates of the Carribbean and Amelie.

There are downsides to the film. For the most part, the plot is pretty dumb, with people hiring Holmes to do things that we eventually discover they never would have done, because really, what's the point? (you'll know what I mean when you see the film - there are some plot holes big enough you could drive a horse drawn carriage through them). Rachel McAdams is especially disappointing. I've never been all that enthused by her, and in this movie she not only gives a very lackluster and ill-fitting performance, but she looks fucking awful. I've always been one of the few who don't find her very hot, but in this movie she outdoes herself. But ah well. Sherlock Holmes is a lot of fun, and unlike all those fucking godawful Pirates of the Caribbean movies, this is the beginning of an action franchise I actually look forward to seeing more installments of.