Style over substance, very disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (19 January 2010)

Despite being a well known pop culture figure, I had little to no contact to Sherlock Holmes until today. I never read the stories or watched the films and mini series. I knew, of course who he was and a little bit about Watson as well because, well, their reputation proceeds them. Sherlock Holmes is so popular that the Guinness World Records has consistently listed him as the "most portrayed movie character" with 75 actors playing the part in over 211 films. An update of this classic tale sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately, Guy Ritchie's adaption is rather disappointing. The story begins with Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson finally catching serial killer and occult "sorcerer" Lord Blackwood. He gets the death penalty. But Blackwood mysteriously returns from the grave and resumes his killing spree. Holmes, then reopens the case and tries to unravel the clues to this mystery... Ritchie's rendition of Sherlocke Holmes is somewhat engaging and entertaining but it also has the typical flaws of a blockbuster. First thing you'll notice in the film is the weird camera angles, and the freeze-frame edits. It's Richie's trademark and he seems to love it because he does this in all of his works. Visually, it's definitely a stylish film but sometimes Richie goes a bit over the top creating certain situations with little or no relevance to the plot just to show his skills, like the bare-knuckle boxing sequences. The script is a mess; it's all over the place, lacks focus and the plot twist, if you can call it that, is nothing more than a setup for the inevitable sequel. Honestly, the big mystery is not that interesting, captivating or well written for that matter. The strength of the film lies in the performances of the lead actors even though, I've seen them doing much, much better. Robert Downey Jr was very charismatic as always but he was clearly out of his element. Jude Law did fine but I almost feel he's too good of an actor to play such a small, underdeveloped character; and Rachel McAdams, was energetic and vibrant as usual. I have to say that I'm not a big fan of Ritchie. And this film didn't change my opinion one bit. His approach to film-making is much more style than substance and this film is the clear evidence of that. Those expecting something clever and well thought will be disappointed.
5/10