Clever, Fun, and Very Entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2009)

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most iconic fictitious characters of all time. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1800's, Holmes is an incredible detective who is able to solve a case out of the mundane details in life that nobody else seems to be able to notice. However, prior to this movie, I was not very well-educated on the character. So, I went in with a fresh, open opinion and was very pleased with what I saw. This tells the story of a man named Lord Blackwood, who is supposedly involved in black magic. He is caught by Holmes and his partner, John Watson, early on and is sentenced to death. However, Blackwood is resurrected, and Holmes needs to solve the case. I wasn't so keen on the black magic elements of the story, but when the explanation came at the end, I was really pleased. It made me really appreciate the rest of the film a lot more. I liked the characterization of Holmes, and the mannerisms given to him by the fantastic Robert Downey, Jr. Downey plays Holmes perfectly, getting every little quirk the character has exactly right. There were a number of small things in this movie that I absolutely loved, like the little banter between Holmes and Watson, Holmes and the Inspector. However, what is quite possibly the best thing in this movie is the scenes where Holmes is shown sitting there, but you can hear all the other conversations and noises around him. That is really what defines his character, displaying his brilliance perfectly. There were some problems I had though. The film does run a bit long, and there are a number of scenes that could have been trimmed. The ending is also a big problem. It ends on a cliffhanger, and while I don't mind, I wish they would have saved the cliffhanger stuff for later installments. But, despite that, I really liked Sherlock Holmes, and am looking forward to further installments in this series.