Good, but no Ritchie

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2010)

I'm a huge fan of director Guy Ritchie's firstlings, "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch", two movies dealing with petty criminals on the streets of London with infective humour and a great, high-velocity visual style. Then Ritchie married Madonna and turned out a load of cinematic rubbish. Now the newlydiv is back with Sherlock Holmes, not your regular, stout Sherlock but a superhero flick set in Victorian times.
I'm not too sure about the result. As a retrograde superhero movie it works great. If that's your thing. Ritchie still knows his stuff, and Robert McDowney Jr. (Sherlock) and Jude Law (Watson) are impressive. On the other hand, great superhero movies are a dime a dozen, and Guy Ritchie used to be unique when he was still making small-budget films.
I weep a tear for the good old times and curse Madonna.