Quite an interesting re-imagination of a classic novel.

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2010)

Before seeing Sherlock Holmes, I was warned by a senior friend that Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes went intolerably far from its source material. As a self-respected Holmes fan, I gave up seeing in theater. Luckily enough, I picked it up in HD format several months later, and it gave me a lot positive surprises.
That being said, I've seen quite a few Holmes movies before this blockbuster, and I wasn't too impressed by those poor adaptations just yet. None of them had a Holmes that lived up to the caliber of original novel's spirit. Still, I wasn't expecting a radical re-imagination of that meditatively brilliant role at all; I don't feel the desire to see him on the screen. Maybe that's because all these years the world has had too many super detectives jumping-examining-analyzing on and off the screen. Most recent greatest detective stories all stocked their firepower in the characters instead of the mystery(L.A.Confidential). Will this particular movie which had a bizarre feeling of Iron Man in 19th century (the trailer) do any different? To my surprise, Sherlock Holmes feels very fresh, comical, surreal, yet if there can ever be any performances that really is that inspiring, mind-bending as the title character, it would be Robert Downey Jr. Knowing that it's a Guy Ritchie production, I expected the same magnitude of mischief, mayhem and crude humor like Rock'n Rolla, Snatch, and Lock Stock. But thankfully the final product's efficiency in relating audiences' minds to their loved roles is far better than one can expect, as long as one's not a religious fanatic who believed in everything in Holmes books. So long as you care to know, the story opens with Holmes apprehending a shadowy serial killer whose high profile in the society shocked London, who later turned out to possess the capability to rise from grave, wield black magics and wreck havocs around London and terrorize the public. Holmes had limited time to figure out the opponent's master plan, which also involved far more people than one's imagination......
I guess you can't find a single case in Holmes books that either exactly matches this movie plot or feels totally different. That means the movie's a very brilliant adaptation that gains the strength from both the source material's roots and the screenwriter's originality. It's a story that keeps your brain processing the data just like Holmes himself while also convince you to sit back and enjoy the ride with your popcorn. With no presumption for the plot, fans can find many Eastern eggs and accept the director's goodwill in them. For example, all the scientific devices in the movie had their originality from the books, but the fast pacing hinders you from remembering their exact location in the novels. In terms of characters, although I am not too thrilled to see Holmes having such an obvious soft spot for Irene, all the characters play their parts in the story pretty smooth. Moriaty's involvement in the plot is too obvious to entertain the fans, but luckily the makers were aware of it. I was puzzled by the fact that Downey got a golden globe for the title role before I see this one. Now I've seen it, I can tell you the bottom-line is that no one had been so convincing as well as entertaining in this role. It's worth seeing for that if you don't have another reason.
While supremely sophisticated in Science knowledge and detective technique, Holmes was never so interested in ideology and politics. The makers are insightful enough to get this right in the adaptation, which leaves some key messages to be openly interpreted. After all, it's a story about the whole London in panic for black magics and Satanic villains who claim to be Satanic. It's a Holmes point-of-view to visually reveal the clash between spiritual assumptions and experimental science in the transition of 19th and 20th centuries, and the movie definitely takes Holmes side to criticize or mock universally at religions and spiritual beliefs. In this sense, it's acceptable to see churches having a mental breakdown in the storyline. It's also a remind to me that it's not reality, but Holmes, down to his fictional bone and love-it-or-hate-it roots and ideological notions. After all, Christianity is never really about anything indestructible human can possess or wield, but rather about right way to live your destructible life. If you are interested in discussing further, please contact me with Email: dealerbargins@hotmail.com. Have a good time watching it! 9/10 Almost perfect, very masterful adaptation and production.