A solid mixture of costume theatre and violence

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2010)

Sherlock Holmes. Most people know him from the stories as a somewhat dusty investigator with a peculiar pipe and hat, solving various crimes by dry logic deduction. How does a figure like that thrive in these cinematic times? I guess if the film had been made completely based on the original characters it would have turned sour.
But leave it to Guy Ritchie to pick up the character(s) in the stories and make them into a successful combination of brutal violence and costume drama. Sticking close enough to the original tales and their relations as well as adding enough flavors of current time dark cinema and his own personal traits (the feel of typical British crime-comedy that made him famous) this film works like a charm. Fast paced, a sinister plot and many logic deductions (amongst many other things).
Downey and Law do well as Holmes and Watson. Holmes comes across as highly intelligent, yet thoroughly vile and somewhat of an egocentric bastard while Watson comes across as the help against his will and better knowledge. Added together they make a formidable mix. Of the other characters there a few that jump out performance wise but all in all its the mixture that works best. All added up, a nice watch if you like dark crime-comedy.
8 out of 10 crimes solved