Review written by Deathstalker.
Guy (Former Mr. Madonna) Ritchie directs this newest film based on the titular character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Well, I watched this movie today. I am coming down with bronchitis so I was not feeling that great and it took away quite a bit of the enjoyment I might have gotten from this film. With that said, I will as always review the film as objectively and fairly as possible.
Starring Robert Downey Jr. (who has had more lucky comebacks from drugs than my uncle) as the films titular protagonist and Jude Law as his ever faithful sidekick Dr. Watson, our story begins with our heroes tracking down Lord Blackwood (played by Mark Strong) and successfully stopping him from completing a human sacrifice. Blackwood is deemed guilty by Scotland Yard and sentenced to hang until he is dead, dead, dead! 
Blackwood (who for all the world looks like the “Gentleman from Providence” H.P. Lovecraft) warns Holmes that he will come back from the dead and continue in his devious ways! True to his word, Blackwood breaks out of his crypt and continues his killings. From here, the game is afoot!
Having only a passing knowledge of Sherlock Holmes from a story I read in middle school, a couple mystery games I played as a kid, and recently watching the newer Hallmark movies, I can not say how true this is to the source material. However, I’d make an educated guess as to saying yes and no. The characters are revamped for modern audience. Sherlock still lives at 221B Baker St., there is a Prof. Lestrade, and several denouement monologues/montages of Holmes explaining the solution to the mysteries. Holmes dreaded antagonist Professor James Moriarty makes a cameo appearance that comfortably sets him up to be the antagonist of the sequel. The methodical mind of Holmes is fully on display here, and is as always, in top form. However some changes come in the look and relationship of the characters. Holmes is a lean, mean, fighting machine that can break you down in his mind seconds before doing so with his fists. Watson also has a make over. Instead of being a portly, stuffy, English chap, he is Jude Law. Another staple of the original stories, The Baker Street Irregulars, fail to make an appearance during the film. There are also love interests for both protagonists, something I have not seen before in a Sherlock Holmes movie.
The acting is uniformly solid, and for the most part the plot is as well. There are a couple things I thought made little sense (a scene involving smoke comes to mind), some of the action is too over the top, and there is no real sense of urgency or suspense in the plot until the last act. Be that as it may the look of the film is amazing. Guy Ritchie does a fantastic job at capturing the dark and foreboding majesty of 1800’s Europe. A lot of attention to detail went into the set designs which helps sell the viewer on the world the characters inhabit. As far as movies go, you can do a lot worse than this film, but unless you are dying to see it I’d say it’s a rental at best. That could be due to the mood I was in while watching it and almost falling asleep in the theater (something that never happens). Neither of those things can be blamed strictly on the film since the amount of sleep I got last night was equal to that of the film’s duration. You can certainly do worse as far as films go, but if you are a Holmes purist, I think you might be somewhat disappointed much like Guy Ritchie is in his elderly ex-wife’s choices in men.
More info you can find here. Enjoy!
ew I had a couple but I really wanted to hear the song and so had hopefully wandered over to the bookcase which serves as home to my singles to skim through on the off chance that I owned it. I found Madonna nestled between Madness and Magazine, not the most obvious place for the queen of pop and quickly scanned through her singles and to my joy I found it smiling out at me, a little scratched for sure, but there. No sooner was it in my hand than revolving around my turntable.