Utterly pretentious, mildly entertaining

Rating: 4/10 (14 May 2011)

There is nothing worse that a simple fun oriented film and story that pretends to be an intellectual artistic exercise. I find this sort of pretense not only annoying and deceiving to the spectator, but also artistically contrapuntal as you cannot seat and just watch the movie for what it is. If you want to show off your feathers, better be real! Guy Ritchie, the actors and producers have insisted that this movie not only captures the essence of the original, but also reinvents it, but both statements are delusional. In fact, I thought that the TV series "Sherlock" offers more artistry, inventiveness, interestingness and mystery that Richie's, it is true to the original but still adds elements of modernity that can be enjoyed by modern audiences.
I have read the books, which I immensely enjoyed, and I did not find Sherlock in this movie, or at least the SH I had imagined when reading the books. Robert Downey Jr destroys the credibility and essence of the original character and turns it into an eccentric clown; he is funny, actually, but is not SH to me. Without a good Sherlock Holmes, the rest is not worth a penny. The rest of the acting is OK: Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong. and Kelly Reilly are Dr. John Watson, Irene Adler, Lord Blackwood, and Mary respectively. Robert Maillet was fun as giant Dreader. Eddie Marsan was unconvincing as Inspector Lestrade, though.
The story is entertaining, as all SH's stories are, has some moments of fun and is visually stunning, full of action and special effects. I liked the visual style of connecting slow/fast motion elements (typical of Ritchie) with SH's deductive way of thinking, which makes clear for the viewer why SH immediately gets what is happening and what is going to happen. The digital recreation of London and the mood of the era are certainly impressive; I specially liked the slumdog sort of areas and shops, not as much the general views of the city that looked a bit oniric and cartoon-ish (video-game-ish actually) at times. This is an action-packed movie that relegates to a second place the logical deduction, pace and essence of the original books.
Utterly pretentious, mildly entertaining, easily forgettable.