Sherlock Holmes An Entertaining Action Crime Adventure

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2010)

Sherlock Holmes is an entertaining action crime adventure from director Guy Ritchie whose admirable in making this movie. It has actually made me what to check out some of his other films like Snatch and Rock N Rolla to name a few. Sherlock Holmes has some tiny flaws that I'll get into later but the good more than outweighs the bad in this one. Robert Downey Jr. is fantastic as the character of the title. It's definitely a much different interpretation of the popular private sleuth detective than we've seen before. With Iron Man, Zodiac, The Soloist, and Tropic Thunder, Downey Jr. has made a great comeback proving to be one of Hollywoods most talented actors. He continues to solidify just that with his performance in this movie. Well done. Jude Law is equally impressive as Holmes partner and best friend Dr. John Watson. Downey Jr. and Law have genuine chemistry with each other perfecting an odd couple relationship between their characters. They make the best of the screen time together which provides the movie with a lot of humor. Rachel McAdams is good as Irene Adler the only woman to make as Watson puts it "a proper idiot" out of Holmes "twice." Despite not being given a whole lot do, McAdams is convincing as the beautiful temptress Irene none the less. Mark Strong is solid as serial killer and mysterious occult "sorcerer" Lord Blackwood in his limited screen time who proves to be an effective villain for Holmes. He doesn't share many scenes with Downey Jr. but the few they do have together are well written. The rest of the cast are nothing memorable but they do what their roles require and still turn in decent performances. The action sequences are well executed with just enough so it doesn't feel like overkill. There was a nice balance between the action, humor, and drama that made the 128 minute running time go by at a steady pace. The humor was very funny which always helps make a film better and we can thank most of it from the banter between Downey Jr. and Law. They both delivered their lines to perfection bringing much of the humor out of the script through their odd couple relationship. There were a few memorable quotes too that I found quite funny like "Permission to enter the armory?", "No girl wants to marry a doctor who can't tell if a man's dead or not", and "So that's a no to the opera then?" to name a couple. Some of the action scenes were even humorous especially the one with Sherlock Holmes in a bare knuckles boxing match and another involving a huge French guy. I also liked how most of the films mysteries including Lord Blackwood's possible supernatural abilities were explained in a logical manner and it didn't leave you with many unanswered questions. The few minor flaws were that certain characters (Blackwood and Irene) weren't really developed considering most of the focus is on Downey and Law which isn't a bad thing. It just wouldn't be a little better if we knew more about Blackwood or Irene. The climatic fight between Holmes and Blackwood near the climax felt a bit rushed but hey that's okay because everything else made up for the films minor flaws. Overall I was still very impressed with Sherlock Holmes and I recommend this to anyone looking for a movie that sure to leave you feeling entertained by the end. Sherlock Holmes has a complex but not too complicated story with just enough action, humor, drama, and exceptional performances by the two leads (especially Downey Jr. and Law) who make this film worth the time to watch.