Sherlock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

Rating: 6/10 (6 January 2010)

First of all, let me say this was a very watchable and entertaining movie, full of action and enough noise to keep even the most sleep-deprived insomniac wide awake. I enjoyed it and would even like to see it again, this time with earplugs, in order to catch some of the nuances I no doubt missed in the first viewing.
That said, this movie, like most movies these days made from literary works, has little to do with the original story other than lifting the characters' names -- without adopting their original personalities or characteristics. Ritchie's Holmes, alas not surprisingly, has more of a "Snatch" hoodlum in him than anything Conan Doyle wrote. Although it's true that the literary Holmes was no cupcake, and dabbled in "fisticuffs," this Holmes looked more like Jason Statham than the intellectual and quirky sleuth of Baker Street. The fight scenes (and there were many) were long, drawn-out (although full of action), and unbelievable.
I found myself wishing for these over-the-top action scenes to be over so Holmes could make some clever deductions from obscure clues. I was sadly disappointed that there was very little of the latter in this film. This is a Holmes on steroids (and not the occasional cocaine that the true literary Holmes was known to have sampled). It was the Holmes of "Snatch" or "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels," not the genius detective as played best by Jeremy Brett in the British Sherlock Holmes series.
In short, although this is a competent action film, full of explosions and clever fight scenes, it is NOT worthy to be attached to the name of the great Sherlock Holmes character. As long as you know that going in, and you don't care, then you will thoroughly enjoy this film. Sherlock Holmes purists -- get ready to hate!