[Review] Sherlock Holmes

Warner Brothers | USA/UK/Australia | 128 min

Sherlock Holmes isn’t quite what everyone is expecting. It’s not a dumb fun action romp, it’s not a bro-mantic comedy and it is certainly not a nonstop adrenaline fueled action picture. Most importantly, this isn’t the laughably unintentional Sherlock Holmes parody that the ads implied. This is a fun pulpy mystery that is rather faithful to the nature of Holmes and his stories.

Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.)  is the best private detective in all of London and the same goes for his partner/sidekick Watson (Jude Law). They’re the perfect duo who can solve any case. Now they’re thrown into the ultimate mystery when Lord Blackwood enters the picture. After they break up his weekly voodoo session and the murdering of an innocent woman, everything seems cherry. Blackwood is thrown in jail and is even hanged to death. Things couldn’t be going better, up until Blackwood “apparently” resurrects from the dead. As he previously warned Holmes: the world you know is about to change. Blackwood seems to be paranormal and unworldly with all his black magic. Now Holmes and Watson have to put aside their differences and stop Blackwood from continuing his murderous rampage.

The greatest part about this reinvention is that it’s not just another origin story. There’s never any meandering or unneeded back stories provided. Once the film begins, Holmes is a detective and Watson is his partner/sidekick. There’s no annoyingly unneeded set up. While many have worried that this was going to be just another formulaic action picture; it’s not. This is still a mystery where problems are solved by higher thinking and not gunshots. Nearly every situation is resolved by Holmes outsmarting everyone else. For the most part, the mystery is done well and the film runs rather smoothly.

The third act is where it becomes annoyingly generic with the foreseeable climax, but it still manage to entertain. The real disappoint lies within the last ten minutes. That’s where the film divulges into pandering scooby-doo exposition where Holmes explains everything. There’s plenty of pandering here and there, but it’s not until the third act that it becomes a bit too ridiculous. It also doesn’t help that the needless set up for an inevitable sequel is drawn out in a rather hammy way. While it does leave one excited about about the future adventures of Holmes and Watson, it’s unneeded.

For a few of the early moments, it takes a little time to warm up to Robert Downey Jr.’s accent and take on Holmes. After that, he fully embodies the classical character everyone loves. This isn’t what most would label the “typical” Downey performance — i.e just being sarcastic and witty. While that generally works perfectly, here he delivers a more toned down performance. He still delivers a few funny moments of wit, but more importantly he still crafts Holmes as the thinking man’s hero. That’s the way he should be and Downey never forgets that even during the action scenes. Law also holds his own making making Watson the perfect counterpart. The film plays heavily on their very odd couple relationship and luckily they both handle those moments wonderfully. Their relationship never comes off too goofy, unfunny or unbelievable.

Another standout is Mark Strong whose Blackwood is a menacing and worthy opponent. While his inevitable loss to Holmes comes as expect, he makes it not feel utterly contrived like most studio blockbusters. Strong has enough of a dark onscreen presence to make one forget the villain preconception — that they always lose. Unfortunately, the always watchable Rachel McAdams is completely wasted as the dull love interest. McAdams is fine, but she’s stuck to playing a bland character. She’s underwritten and doesn’t add much.

With RocknRolla and now Sherlock Holmes, Guy Ritchie has finally made up for both Revolver and Swept Away. This is a whole new direction for Ritchie and it’s a welcoming one. Yes, his overuse of slow motion is present as always but besides that this feels fresh and different. He presents a bleak and yet lush visual aesthetic filled with some fantastically composed shots. Some shots, even with a few questionable CG shots, are wonderfully shot. Ritchie also frames action scenes perfectly never without a sense of geography. There’s no frantic fast cutting like his previous films causing a feeling of incomprehensibility.

This is a surprisingly highly enjoyable franchise starter that isn’t just another hollow and vacant adventure film. It’s a mystery first and foremost. Similar to this year’s Star Trek, it reignites a famous brand with a modern day outlook. This surely could have been much better if the the third act didn’t fall apart and there wasn’t the bland love interest subplots, but at least it’s not the mediocre piece of popcorn trash that it easily could have been. Most importantly, it’s a welcoming intro for this new Holmes.