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Rating: 4 out of 5
“Elementary, my dear Watson.” The famous words spoken by the World’s greatest detective. Sherlock Holmes has been around a long time. I actually just finished the very first book, A Study in Scarlet. I actually thought it was terrible because Sherlock is full of himself. Honestly, there are more extraordinary things than that story that show the detective’s greatness or spin-off. I just looked it up, and by the 1990s, there were already over 25,000 stage adaptations, films, television productions, and publications featuring the detective. That is insane with how many times this character has been shown in some way, shape, or form. The Guinness World Records lists him as the most portrayed literary human character in film and television history. My favorite versions of this character are Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective and BBC Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
This time around, director Guy Ritchie brings his version of the famous detective to life, with Robert Downey Jr. starring as the famous detective and Jude Law as his trustworthy friend as Dr. Watson. After finally catching the elusive serial killer and occult “sorcerer,” Lord Blackwood (Strong), Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.), and his assistant Dr. Watson (Law) can finally rest easy as they have taken down one of London’s most notorious villains. After several months and one final meeting between Holmes and Blackwood, Blackwood states that he will rise from the grave and bring down the country before being hanged. As life moves on with Watson getting married, rumors start to swirl around that Lord Blackwood has risen from the grave and now displays extraordinary powers. Holmes and Watson are back on the case to see if the man has risen. As they dig up his coffin, they find out that it is filled with another man’s body. As the murders around London start to rise, Holmes and Watson, along with the beautiful Irene Adler (Adams), must stop Blackwood before he can initiate his master plan: the takeover of the British government and, eventually, world domination.
Right from the get-go, you know this case will be something that pushes Holmes mentally and physically. Actually, more mentally because, at most times, he seems to be unstable. Gotta lay off the drugs, Sherlock. You too good for them. Ritchie made sure that this Sherlock Holmes would have some intensity with it and not just the oh, look at this, and did you see the stain on that man’s shirt. Nope, Ritchie was like, we are going to make Holmes a person who can predict most things and then make it happen. Ritchie does this with Holmes’s ability to do the whole flash-forward thing. The ability to map out his exact points of attack and then give a medical report to it. It is fascinating and expertly done. It is done in slow motion to provide the viewer with an exact look at what will happen, and the cherry on top is Holmes giving a medical report on the injuries.
As far as the story and actual case. It was one of those that tried to blend in the supernatural with science. First, you wonder if Lord Blackwood actually did come back from the grave and if he does have some type of supernatural abilities. When you see someone burst into flames or die in their bathtub. Yet will all Sherlock Holmes cases, you have to figure out what is real and what is not. Up until the end is the big reveal of it all. What I somewhat liked about this story and case is the ending. It gives subtle references to Holmes’ biggest rival, James Moriarty-a man who might be superior in thinking than Holmes himself, but that is for another case.
What sets this Sherlock Holmes story apart from all the others is probably the action scenes. Ritchie made sure that there was plenty of action and fighting that the main character has to go through. Whether it is fighting a giant French man, a lab exploding, a ship sinking into the river or boxing, Ritchie made sure this Sherlock Holmes dealt with some action, and I LOVED it. I want to see action and not the looking at bottles and telling people what you think.
Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as Sherlock Holmes. He made the character interesting and entirely flawed but entertaining. He just has this smart-ass tone and looks that make this character work in all ways. Downey just plays the character as a genius that has way too many demons that he wants to deal with. His mind just processes things at a higher level than anyone around him.
Jude Law was a different take on the famous Dr. Watson. I always thought of Dr. Watson as a fat little man, but Law held his own with Downey Jr as the faithful sidekick. He was an independent character with his own life and rarely played second fiddle. Rather than playing the naïve character, he spoke his mind and let Holmes know it.
The one character that seemed off was Rachel McAdams’s character as Irene Adler. In the beginning, McAdams played Irene as a strong woman that knew how to play the game but at the end was regulated to the damsel in distress, afraid of the villain behind the scenes. I just felt like that was a waste of a character. My homeboy Mark Strong was excellent. He was just eerie, dark, fascinating, and a joy to watch as the villain of the story. He was just devious and calm all the way around.
This is a different version of Sherlock Holmes that I think many people will like. Downey Jr. and Law did a fantastic job in their respective roles. Ritchie brought an element of adventure, action, humor, and a fascinating villain to compete against Holmes’s mind with this entertaining story. I need to watch the sequel to remember what it is like but also watch the Great Mouse Detective.
