Holmes: Killed in Action Movie.

Rating: 5/10 (2 March 2013)

On the plus side, the acting isn't bad. Downey's Sherlock Holmes is adequate, including his accent. From certain angles he's beginning to look like Dustin Hoffman as he aged. Jude Law, likewise, delivers as a more than usually active Dr. Watson. Sebastian Moran I dismiss, but Jared Harris as Professor Moriarty is quite good, especially considering that he doesn't look the part as it was described in the canon. Best of all, though, is Steven Frey as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's brother. His flabby geniality and hooded eyes suggest a wry dispassion. I think he may have been Oscar Wilde in another film. If he wasn't, he should have been.
An avalanche of plot twists almost buries some of the clever lines in the script. Offered a horse to ride, instead of a carriage, Holmes remarks, "The animals are dangerous at both ends and devious in the middle." There are some other good one liners but I forget them at the moment.
You know the Sherlock Holmes series from Universal Studios -- the ones with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce? They were cheap, simple, spooky, and bloodless. Well, this is everything that series was not.
It rushes headlong through its narrative -- something to do with Moriarty wanting to start a World War because he's acquiring the rights to all the weaponry. And this movie has weaponry enough to satisfy weaponry fans, and sometimes described in loving detail. One of them appears to be an assault rifle that cycle at about the same rate as a Tommy gun. This is the 1890s and there is a Gatling gun too, but forget that one. It doesn't shoot enough bullets fast enough. The dynamic duo undergo all sorts of travails that I won't bother to spell out. I will, though, mention that the action scenes are edited at a lightning pace except when they are reduced to near-absolute minimum motion. Not slow motion, but hardly any motion at all. Things explode in fireballs several times. Computer-generated images abound. And almost every scene takes place in an eerie and unworldly murk, as if shot underwater in the Harlem River.
Does Sherlock Holmes ever exercise his deductive powers? Indeed he does. But he never quite explains them in any detail. Instead, the movie borrows from Law and Order: Crime Scene Unit or whatever it's called. The explanation is zipped through with such alacrity that the viewer is left gaping at the flashing images.
It's full of action, adventure, and mystery. I thought it was a travesty.