Elementary Indeed! Downey & Law make a dynamic duo

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2010)

SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009) *** Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan. Rip-roaring re-imagining of the classic crime solver (Downey having a field day as the British super sleuth) and his long-suffering partner, Dr. John Watson (a nimble and nifty Law), this time teaming up against the nefarious Lord Blackwood (the formidable Strong), whose dabbling in the occult has Victorian England on its knees trembling. Filmmaker Guy Ritchie employs his usual bag of tricks (i.e. slo-mo camera) and a fun and fast screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg & Lionel Wigram (phew!) keeps things lively and highly entertaining (too bad they pretty much waste the vibrantly appealing McAdams for the most part as a femme fatale/love interest for Holmes). But the impeccable production design by Sarah Greenwood, sharp editing by James Herbert and resiliently gritty cinematography by Philippe Rousselot cancels out any of the film's spottiness. Elementary, my dear viewerElementary Indeed!