Don't Call It A Comeback!

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2009)

All it took for Guy Ritchie to have another hit film was to divorce Madonna!? The brilliance is in its simplicity! (End Snark) First, I'll admit I'm naturally biased against any Holmes incarnation produced after the death of the great Jeremy Brett but life goes on as does the legend so I tried keeping an open mind tonight...and it paid off! Downey Jr. was a wonderful bit of stunt casting as he shares a lot of history with the Holmes character; the brilliant career almost cut short by drug use and all. And the abs. How old is he now? 60? Also, I've never been a Jude Law fan but add a mustache and a limp and-TADAH!-you have the hottest Watson ever! I'm talking Victorian FEVER! Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler? Meh. She was a serviceable plot device but there was 0 chemistry between she and Downey Jr. I just had a hard time believing she was Holmes' great love and intellectual equal and well...meh! The bad guy was scary but not in a "I'll take over the world and destroy you" way. It was more scary like realizing you room mate is an overzealous D&D or WoW geek who's really into black capes and ComicCons. The action and dialogue were funny, quick and reminiscent of Ritchie's other films although some of the lines where hard to hear in places but that could have been due to the crying babies seated directly behind me. And just so you'll know, a certain character was introduced toward the end that lead me to believe that there will be a sequel...or three.