A flawed, yet exciting re-imagining

Rating: Null/10 (7 March 2014)

Whilst the choice for Ritchie might seem odd at first, following the director's slate of tough-as-nails action films such as Lock, stock and two smoking barrels and Snatch (his momentary lapse of reason called 'Madonna' well forgiven), his apparent understanding of the underbelly of London society works wondrously. Both in depicting the tribulations of 18th century England and in updating the characters of Holmes and his trusted Dr. Watson from bookish detectives to bare-knuckle brawling bad-asses, Ritchie finds the right tone between action, adventure and comedy.
Whilst highly enjoyable, the film is not without flaw. The break-neck pace of both the character introductions and the plot exposition would leave any viewer unfamiliar with the source material dazed and confused, or at the very least unappreciative of the long running relationships between Holmes, Watson and the many secondary characters such as Irene Adler and Inspector Lestrade. It is of course impossible to demand Sherlock levels of character development, but with plans of a trilogy established early on in the development process the pacing could have been handled with a little more care. However, these flaws are minor, and in no way degenerate the exciting re-imagining of one of the greatest and most adapted literary characters.
(AREA 555 on Wordpress)