Great fun, solid acting but not a good film

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2010)

This is a movie where solid acting, great art direction (costumes, buildings and decoration) and some funny comedy lines happen. There are even some sessions that feel a little bit yaoi-oriented (refer to Wikipedia), which might please Asian fans, especially girls, while for teenager boys and early twenties like me, it doesn't seem that strange due to the way we express our friendship being similar to that shown in this film. On the whole, the performance isn't contrived at all, even when NOT considering the fact that it's a comedy. The old London city looks awfully beautiful with many details that accurately captures and represents the feeling of the streets.
But on the other hand, the plot isn't great. You probably won't even take it as "good" if you like reasoning or logic that's supposed to be essential for detective fictions, you'd probably be disappointed. The reasons lie in two aspects. First, the reasoning portrayed in this movie relies way too much on professional knowledges; almost all the reasonings are built upon the knowledges of chemistry. Second, you don't get as many evidences and clues as Sherlock Holmes does; since the stuff he sees, or more literally, smells, are generally chemistry stuff, you won't know what he sees or smells or tastes until the end of the film. That said, you are totally impossible to solve the puzzle by yourself.
So whether it's a film for you depends on your taste. If you're looking for some entertaining dialogs, good acting and beautiful scenes, you won't be let down. What's also worth mentioning is that the hand-to-hand combat in the film looks pretty decent too, but surely not as stunning as that in Bourne films or Matrix series.
7.2/10