I think I know what Doyle would be thinking ...

Rating: 3/10 (26 December 2009)

I really like Robert Downey Jr. and the few Sherlock Holmes novels I've read by Arthur Conan Doyle, so this film version of the memorable English Detective was a great surprise.
Holmes novels give adults a chance to have a good time. And in an age where so many of the movies are for 'everybody,' especially the family, the kids or teenage boys, I looked forward to some fun adult entertainment. But it didn't take but a few seconds of screen time to realize this Sherlock Holmes movie was not going to be sophisticated. Pretty much right away Holmes is punching people in slow-motion.
I think the movie would have been better if it was set in New York instead of England because then Robert Downey wouldn't have had to worry about talking with a British accent. Sometimes it was difficult understanding exactly what he was saying. Plus his haircut was nothing like Sherlock Holmes' haircut would be but he did have a pipe in his mouth at least two times so that was good.
Also, if the makeup artist applied more makeup to Jude Law's face to make him look older like Watson is, then he could have passed as Watson.
Like I say, I was pretty worried right off the bat when Sherlock Holmes was punching people on this dimly lit staircase, but, oh, about 20 minutes later my first array of hope that the movie may get better was when an investigation was to take place at a cemetery. This should be good, I thought, like something out of a Holmes novel, but when they got to the cemetery, it was kind of sunny and looked like a construction site instead of a cemetery.
Rachel McAdams is really pretty but I didn't really know why her character was in the movie.
Bob Clark made a Sherlock Holmes movie called "Murder by Decree' in 1979 that is not perfect, by any means, but is good with some great moments, and I wish Guy Ritchie would have seen it, because that was a lot more like a Sherlock Holmes novel.