Not Flawless, But One of the More Under-Rated Films of the Year

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2010)

Sherlock Holmes and his faithful assistant Watson are on the case of a man who has seemingly risen from the dead to terrorize London. While the police seem clueless, Holmes is on top of things, and while his methods are unorthodox, they just might work.
Robert Downey Jr. is great in anything he does, but he makes a particularly fine Sherlock Holmes -- the English equivalent of Tony Stark. Jude Law is a respectable Dr. John Watson, and fleshes out what could have been a forgettable character. Rachel McAdams plays Irene Adler, the love interest. I have a personal dislike for McAdams and view her as the weak part of the film, but that's likely just my own bias.
The cinematography in the film was great, but almost too polished at times, clearly computerized. This is a new venture for Guy Ritchie, who also has ventured away from the 'R' rating for the first time. He does, though, push the boundaries a bit. Ritchie was also said to remove Holmes' hat, and the line "elementary", which was clearly a good move... Ritchie has proved himself capable of much more than gangster flicks.
Some people have claimed the film has homoerotic undertones, while others have denied any such thing. I saw it immediately. You may write it off as "friendship", but there are plenty of lines that blurred the picture and the entire dinner scene with Mary was very tense in a jealous lover sort of sense.
Hans Zimmer was robbed. If this film has no other Oscar-worthy things going for it (and that may well be true), Zimmer's score blew me away and really drove the film. I don't mean to say that the winner's score was bad, but if anyone thinks that Zimmer didn't take this music and thrust it into a whole new level of powerful soundscaping, you are deaf.
What this film probably does best is sets up for a sequel that could outdo the first... recall how "Batman Begins" left an opening for "The Dark Knight"? A similar act is followed here. And while no sequel has been officially announced to my knowledge, I have to say that it's one of the most anticipated upcoming films for me... by and large because of the build-up created here.