More Hardy boyish than Sherlock Holmes

Rating: 6/10 (31 July 2010)

To give credit to the movie, on a standalone basis it is a decent watch. It does have a decent plot, is fast paced, has a fair bit of action with subtle jokes thrown in for good measure. The problem however with the movie is that the title is Sherlock Holmes.
While suitable elements of Sherlock Holmes have been captured in his characterization, the overall plot has gaping holes. What struck me as being particularly irritating was the fact that Dr Watson was often shown to be smarter than Sherlock Holmes, in fact at times being a step ahead of Holmes in his deductions. This was NEVER the case in the original novels. The fact that he often adopted a condescending behavior towards the far more intelligent Holmes, was quite ridiculous. Secondly, there was less thought and more action in the story. While Sherlock Holmes can certainly not be called a man of inaction, he was certainly not one to behave like James Bond and indulge in so many Hollywood like action stunts as was shown in the movie. There were similar other inconsistencies, the broader characterization of Holmes not being the least of these.
Overall, the movie is quite dangerous in the sense that it wrongly educates those who have not read Sherlock Holmes. Having said that, it would have been much more admirable had the movie had a (known) character neutral plot.