It's Decent

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2009)

Just to give a little background, I have only general knowledge of Sherlock Holmes. I've read one story, I've seen references to it on movies and TV programs. So I really just have general knowledge of the mythology. That said, I though the film was decent. It's not great, but it's certainly not bad. It's just a solid decent film.
Basically what they did is turn Sherlock Holmes into an Action/Adventure/Mystery Film. Purists of the stories might be a little turned off, but for the casual movie-goer, it's a good movie.
GOOD STUFF The story is engaging and keeps you just curious enough to see what will happen next. There's a lot going on with the main murder-mystery plot, and several good character driven sub-plots.
I think Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as Sherlock Holmes. I liked his portrayal of the character as an extremely intelligent social misfit who is respected by all, but has a general attitude of distaste for those around him (with a few exceptions). The rest of the acting is decent, and succeeds in getting you interested enough in the characters to see what will happen next.
I really liked the creative uses of deductive logic, not just to solve mysteries, but in fight scenes and everyday situations. In this adaptation, Holmes is able to use deductive reasoning in hand-to-hand combat to create the best scenario for disabling an opponent. I thought this was an interesting twist and a cool addition to the character. I loved the way the deductive logic scenes were shot, too. It shows a slow motion explanation of everything Holmes is planning to do so that you can see the logic behind the actions. He calculates every move in advance based on his opponent's weaknesses, then he calculates recovery time and psychological impact on his opponent. After this slow-motion explanation, you get to see the whole thing in real time, and it's really f***ing cool to watch the logical explanation, and the process behind the fight before seeing the scene in real-time.
The resolution to the mystery is satisfying, and it's exactly how you would want to see a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery unravel. I won't go into detail, I'll just say it's not ridiculous, and that it's based in logic and deductive reasoning.
NOT SO GOOD STUFF While I liked most of the performances in the film, I had a hard time seeing Jude Law as Watson. I don't think its anything the actor did wrong, I just think it was a casting misstep. When I think Watson, the first thing that comes to mind is not "ass-kicking bodyguard." I was able to overlook it for the most part, but in the back of my head I was just going, "That's not Watson." It just doesn't seem natural to me.
There was also an issue with me where the clues are not really given much screen time or attention. Part of the fun of a mystery is trying to solve it, and seeing how the pieces come together; but the way the film is edited, you really can't see the ending coming, and it's more just Holmes explaining rather than giving the audience actual clues to think about.
The ending also threw me a little with the final confrontation with the villain. I'll just say on this that it gets a little cliché, and someone survives something without a scratch that that person really shouldn't just walk off without at least a bruise. However, it's not NEARLY as ridiculous as Indy's magical fridge of wonders.
For the most part, the CG is cool, except for a few scenes at the end where you can tell it's not real. This is relatively minor, though.
OVERALL The film is decent. It's worth a look if you just want to see a good, solid film that isn't too heavy or too deep. It's a decent Hollywood action-adventure comedy.
7/10 - A few stumbling points, but overall decent. Recommend for casual movie-goers. Hardcore fans of the books and stories might get p*ssed.