Review: Sherlock Holmes

Leave it up to director Guy Ritchie to make Arthur Conan Doyle’s usually stuffy Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson characters cool. They’re smart, funny and tough. Maybe the sugar in all the holiday treats is affecting my judgment but I’m going out on a limb and saying this could be Ritchie’s best work. Compared to his three big shoot-em-up films (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; Snatch; and RocknRolla) I found this a more enjoyable film experience, and one I could watch repeatedly without getting bored (besides Snatch, I find all of Ritchie’s previous films boring upon a second viewing). This is also one of the most stylish period pieces to come along since Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow.

After Detective Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his partner Watson (Jude Law) bust the evil, black magic-practicing Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), they close the case and wait for their next assignment. Skip ahead a few months later and Watson has found a woman to settle down with and is leaving the detective business and the house he shares with Holmes. Holmes is in a depressed state, locked in his room tinkering with experiments (such as a device that silences guns) and doesn’t approve of Watson’s plan.

As Lord Blackwood’s last request before his hanging, Holmes is called to meet with him. Blackwood tells him this is just the beginning of people dying and that more people will die after he’s gone. Disturbed, Holmes and Watson witness the hanging and Watson declares Blackwood dead. The next day they are called to investigate Blackwood’s apparent return from the dead and soon they are on an adventure into the world of secret societies and the occult.

What makes Sherlock Holmes work is not so much the witty banter between Holmes and Watson, or the action and fight scenes, but the chemistry between Downey Jr. and Law. They own these roles and play off each other brilliantly. Some have accused Ritchie of presenting the affection between them as homoerotic, and in some instances the film appears to be playing it up. However I found their admiration for each other to be that of brotherly love more than romantic love, and I can’t see another pair of actors from this generation pulling it off.

Rachel McAdams does a great job as Irene Adler, the criminal that Holmes admires because she always knows how to outwit him. This is McAdams’ third film this year and with each new role she becomes a stronger presence on screen and is proving herself to be one of our best young leading ladies. Her character comes in in order to trip up Holmes and she holds her own against the boys.

There’s no question that Ritchie knows how to do fighting and action scenes and he doesn’t hold back here. Holmes bare-knuckle battles in a ring, zaps someone with a cattle prod multiple times, and generally kicks ass. During a fight, he plans each move in his head (in Ritchie-style slow-motion, of course) before attacking his victim with force. It adds to the overall coolness of the film and makes him more of a contemporary action hero than a nineteenth-century detective.

I’m sure devoted fans looking for a more traditional Holmes will not be into the update as much as I am. With exception to the 1959 Hammer Film release The Hound of the Baskervilles (starring the great Peter Cushing as Holmes), I have never been a fan of Holmes on film. I feel this is exactly what was needed to boost the appeal of the character and excite the audience. It’s spectacular entertainment that gives you great value for your buck.

**** out of 5 stars

Rated PG-13
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

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Top image: Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes. Courtesy Warner Bros.