An enveloping movie (don't let the trailer turn you off)

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2010)

With films such as this I feel stuck in the middle of targeted audiences; I love it when a series gets restarted but I'm always on my guard and at my most cynical.
If you've ever had the hours of your life stolen from you with films like Wild wild west or The League of extraordinary gentlemen, then you know exactly what I mean when I say that it is rare indeed to see a movie set in the 1800's that isn't a load of historically inaccurate, technologically ridiculous, propriety insulting garbage.
Sherlock Holmes (much to my great relief) has forgone that pitfall by a giant leap; the technology in the movie fits the time period very well- we are allowed the pleasure of seeing 'the future' of that time, but nothing absurd like a giant mechanical spider or a machine gun crossbow. The settings are wonderful. I'm not a British historian, but I know quality sets when I see them, and for once it's not Tim Burton that's responsible (meaning that they're good Gothic settings, but not unnecessarily bleak.)
The fact that Robert Downey Jr. stars as Holmes made me even more on edge; he's just isn't who would come to mind at all. But the humor and intelligence he brings to the role is refreshing and wholly natural. We're not subjected to the unbearable smugness of your average super-protagonist, but rather an almost childishly humorous grown man, weary but curious of the world around him. Downey's English accent flows comfortably, so well in fact that I would risk getting a beat-down from his bodyguards to hug him for not putting me through another Nicholas Cage type accent abomination. I was never really in to Jude Law or Rachel McAdams but both of them also fell into their characters with winning performances, Law being the sidekick that keeps the hero in line without being annoyingly mean, and McAdams the love interest/femme fetale without being over the top, clingy or trashy.
The story itself will wind your brain around a bit until the end, but isn't that why people have been in love with Sherlock Holmes for so many years in the first place? It will not bore you for a second, and it wraps up very nicely at the end (although you'll probably want to go over it your head again after you've left, which is a good thing)
And last but not least, anyone who's ever read Sherlock Holmes will notice a plethora of accuracy, hints and homages, from Watson's limp thanks to the Jezail bullet that passed through his leg in the Afghan war, to the photo of Irene Adler that Holmes kept as a reminder of the only woman who ever outsmarted him.
So take my advice and don't miss out on something this rare in concept; a quality revamp that pushes boundaries instead of ignoring them.