The Film Takes Numerous Liberties But Doesn't Stray From The True Holmes

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2011)

I understand this is supposed to be a movie review, and trust me I'll get there, but first I must uphold the movies integrity. Now, I'm just going to say that this film for lack of a better word surprised me in how accurate the character of Sherlock Holmes was to the novels. I expected the rehashed "cleaner" version of Holmes as seen in many of the preceding movie, but this film showed the ACTUAL Holmes that was in the novels. Yes Blackwood was definitely not so much the Blackwood from the books but a combination of Professor Raethe and the character Blackwood, but even so the film highlighted many of the characters true personalities. For instance in The Sign of The Four Holme's states, ""The amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back." in response to his previous prize-fighting experience. I read numerous reviews from people complaining about this being a movie re-imagined for the "MTV Age" but I am going to tell you they did NO such thing, instead they tried to create a movie closer to the original novels. Holmes is described in the novels as a drug using fist fighter, which for the most part he definitely was here. Holmes still has all his cleverness as well making huge deductions out of small things, like the dead mans pocket watch which alludes to a sequence in The Sign of The Four.
Now as a movie alone this is a fantastic film, the art direction helps uphold a sense of mystery that is always "afoot" in Holmes novels and helps create that Gothic feel which the Sherlock Holmes series is based off of. The action has great pacing with the plot and isn't constantly tossed in your face yet tastefully applied. The movies casting is spot on and couldn't have been done better, the actors styles mesh greatly together and you gain a true sense of camaraderie that should naturally exist between the characters. I can tell you personally as a movie goer I was constantly on the edge of my seat and never bored which is any movies goal because naturally movies are there to entertain. I was thoroughly impressed with this movie and it's accuracy to the true Holmes that Sir Conan O'Doyle had envisioned.