Holmes by name, only.

Rating: 5/10 (28 April 2010)

I don't know if I just saw a Sherlock Holmes movie, or a mash-up of House, M.D. and Harry Potter, set in the nineteenth century. We have a scruffy genius with few social graces, who correctly draws astonishing conclusions from minute details. His long- suffering partner, who constantly (an unwillingly) gets caught up in the schemes of the main character - and despite his frequent exasperation, seems to be the only person who can truly put up with him. And then we have a villain who gains power through seemingly dark magic that is rooted in the deaths of others. Greg House + Voldemort = basically this entire movie.
My point is, the protagonist of this movie felt little like the classic character of the great detective only occasionally. I almost wish that they would have scrapped the Sherlock Holmes title entirely, and made this a completely original movie. Is it Robert Downey Jr.'s fault that I see him and think Tony Stark? No. But the fact still remains that as good as he is, he never fit the part for me. He's a great actor, but this wasn't really suited for him.
Once you get beyond the title, you'll see that this is a pretty standard adventure movie. There are action sequences sprinkled in liberally, to keep the pace moving, a fairly simple plot, fight scenes, and even a few explosions. And somehow with all that going on, I still was bored and ready for the movie to end, long before it was over. Besides that, Rachel McAdams' character was completely unnecessary and annoying. I know mainstream movies generally need some kind of a love interest for the main protagonist, but Rachel was a complete mismatch for her role.
The sense of cleverness that goes into a tale about Holmes was also missing. Every part of the mystery boiled down to some new invention or rare compound that only Holmes and the villain had knowledge of. He was supposed to be a great detective because of his uncanny deductive reasoning, not because he had memorized every random poison on earth.
Maybe by the time the inevitable sequel is made, I'll be acclimated to this modern version of Sherlock Holmes. It's great for RDJ's career that he has had so many mega- successful movies in the last few years, but that also makes it much harder for him to disappear into a role. This is one example of his fame being too big for the character.