Entertaining if Untraditional take on Sherlock Holmes

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2012)

I loved it. This is definitely a guy flick but not completely so. The explosions, the stop action sequences, the special effects, the gadgetry and the alternative reality sequences owe something to the CSI Las Vegas and to that wonderful old TV program "Wild Wild West" where the Robert Conrad and his sidekick Artemis Gordon traveled in Victorian elegance in a private train car and dealt with evil genius strangely similar to Dr. Moriarty, if only in an old West context.
While it is not in keeping with the Holmes and Watson created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the wonder of the characters is that they are larger than any one writer's conception. Doyle himself grew tired of Sherlock Holmes and did his best ultimately to kill him off, but such characters have steadfastly refused to die. It is fitting therefore that generations of writers have seen fit to provide their take of the classic Holmes and Watson.
The movie is a joy to watch, the period costumes, the lush photography, the locations, the historical context and the extremely complex tapestry of narrative in all of its confusion of pieces which in the end do well fitting together in the final scenes. The manic genius of the Downey Holmes meshes well with the somewhat more normal Watson, and the touches of humor are just right.