Average

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2009)

Sherlock Holmes is a remake or reinventing of the classic, rich detective that was made famous in the 1900s (first book published in 1888) by Arthur Conan Doyle. Now a motion picture of the feisty English detective is made but alas no an Englishmen does not play the role an American known as Robert Downey Jr. Jude Law stars as his trusty side kick Dr Watson who is the dependable doctor who is ready to stick his nose out in any situation Holmes lures himself in. Playing the evil Lord Blackwood is Mark Strong who is a mysterious and disagreeable fellow to witness on screen. It is of course being a Sherlock Holmes film it is set in Victorian London and the genre would be a mystery action some people would call it although a lot of people would think differently.
I am unsure whether the film is a fresh story or inspired by a novel but it doesn't really matter because I think it is a story that the writers dropped the ball on. I had this feeling that the writing team weren't trying too hard and that they could have thought of something a lot more exciting or thrilling but the plot felt very dry and eventually quite boring. I wasn't exactly lured into the plot. I was sort of hanging on an edge and rotating whether to go in or to back away , but eventually I backed away like a bomb was slowly about to blow up My general thoughts were this. I wasn't as enjoyed as I thought I was going to be. My expectations were high for this film and I came out thoroughly disappointed at my viewing experience. I felt that again the writing was very shallow and not deep enough to explore. It then became very quirky as though they were writing for a specific audience and I guess for this film it would be Sherlock Holmes fans and I felt sidelined as Holmes fans were enjoying the experienceor not. Was it completely bad? No it wasn't some parts of the film were very enjoyable but most of the film was a bore.
For the positive side we had the remarkable talent of Jude Law who I thought did a marvellous job as Dr Watson. As a proper Englishmen he managed to pull off a very charming and wonderful version of Dr Watson. I enjoyed Jude's slick charm and charisma in the role and his ability to exercise the role instead of it being a supporting character. Guy Ritchie has directed this film and he did a pretty respectable job with this film unlike some of his previous films.
Then we come to the negative side of things. Sadly I must go to Robert Downey Jr. His performance as Sherlock Holmes sadly didn't deliver. I felt it was too quirky and too in your face and I didn't like it especially at the end. Robert's English accent however is almost spotless or as a matter of fact it is spotless. Despite his quirky performance his accent was so spotless you couldn't find a hint of American. However that doesn't change my thoughts of his performance.
For the characters of the film there were some good and some not so good. Start with the good Jude Law's attempt at Dr Watson was well done indeed and really should have had more screen time. Rachel McAdams as Irene Alder was reasonably regular and got the amount of screen time she needed. No more or less. Then there is again Downey Jr's quirky and quite slightly over the top performance as Sherlock Holmes. Then Mark Strong as a very tedious and not so menacing Lord Blackwood. I didn't feel a sort of menacing feeling around him and just thought of him as a crook or that cartoon villain with the twirling moustache.
In conclusion I thought Sherlock Holmes as a decent film with some well done settings and costumes but overdone acting by the main star and better acting by the sidekick. Plot was steady and characters were flat but overall it is pretty enjoyable for you and your family to get cracking on.
B+ - An above Average Film with so good solid performances and some over the top. An easy plot to follow with some well done set designs but flat action sequences.