A strange working fit

Rating: 8/10 (13 April 2019)

This review contains spoilers.
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action mystery movie. The film is based off of the Sherlock Holmes character written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The movie is directed by Guy Ritchie. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law portray Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson respectively. Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are hired to foil a mystic plot in London.
Sherlock Holmes is an incredibly fun movie. This movie has an electric style of editing and directing which makes the movie fast-paced and exciting. This Sherlock Holmes rendition has a different more youthful approach to the Sherlock Holmes character than other renditions of the character. This character has activities that the audience would not typically associate with Sherlock Holmes. One of these activities is boxing. It is crazy to think that this actually works in the movie's favor. The movie is able to portray the quirkiness and methodical nature of Sherlock Holmes' across all of the actions that he does.
The actual mystery in this movie can feel overly-convoluted. Since this movie is a Sherlock Holmes mystery, this movie had to have some grand mystery and reveal. The movie has a grand reveal but it felt like the movie could have done without a grand reveal. I had a good time with how the movie portrayed the era and characters that the grand mystery was only a small plus for me. I could have easily enjoyed the movie without the convoluted plot.
The action in this movie is grounded and is excellent. Once it was shown that Sherlock is a brawler, there was an expectation that the movie could have exciting fist fights. The movie meets this expectation and has great Victorian era fighting scenes. These scenes are bolstered by Robert Downey Jr.'s performance.
The acting across the cast is great. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as the leading roles do an awesome job. The main villain of Lord Henry Blackwood played by Mark Strong does a compelling job. Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler plays her role perfectly.
The movie does have the fault of not being a stand-out movie. The scenes here do not excel at any one component but it does make the movie immensely watchable. The movie has no terrible scenes, but it does not have the greatest scenes either.
I would recommend 'Sherlock Holmes.' This is a solid action mystery movie.
Grade: B