Holmes and Watson join Voldemort, Sauron and the da Vinci mob for a rollicking romp across Victorian London

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2009)

Much as I appreciated that this Holmes explored more of the darker sides of Conan Doyle's character than many past dramatisations have, it was a serious distraction to find him embroiled with characters and settings drawn without apology straight from Potter, Tolkien and Dan Brown. I mean, look at this plot! It centres around the return from the dead of the Dark Lord, who then murders his own father and steals his magical ring. He is the leader of a brotherhood of satanists who meet (for their virgin sacrifices etc etc) in secret chapels decorated with pentacle symbols.
Nevertheless, Ritchie succeeded in recreating the black humour of Lock-Stock to take us on a romp across a geographically distorted Victorian London which was enjoyable almost for its improbability. I hope that when Holmes locks horns with Moriarty in however many sequels are to follow we get something just a tad more cerebral in plot development, with more focus on the 'clues' to tease our minds as we progress through the story.
Neither a masterpiece nor a landmark redefinition of the Holmes story, in fact very far from being either, but for two hours of light entertainment I'll be generous and give it 7/10.