Sherlock Holmes

 He’s frequently drunk, he gambles, he brawls, however, he still uses his intellect to analyse the situation.  In the film Holmes often breaks down his plan, which unfolds in slow motion as Holmes describes it step by step.  Very often we’re walked through what Holmes intends to do (whether it’s incapacitate a thug or break into a warehouse) in slow motion before it happens then we sit through it again as it happens in real time (or rather fast time).  Somehow Guy Ritchie managed to do this in a way that didn’t seem too redundant.  The visuals were very well done and the action was packed into it like no other rendition of a Sherlock Holmes story has done before.  

The movie received decent critical acclaim when it was released in 2009, garnering generally positive reviews, however, the main criticism of the film was that it contained too much action with not enough story development.  I think it’s summed up best by A.O. Scott of the New York Times when he wrote “the director's approach to films is to make cool movies about cool guys with cool stuff and that Sherlock Holmes was essentially a series of poses and stunts which was intermittently diverting at best.”  That being said, all generally agreed that Robert Downey Jr’s portrayal of Holmes was excellent and that the on screen chemistry of Law and Downey Jr was perfect. 

If you like action movies than you’ll definitely enjoy Sherlock Holmes.  It’s not likely to win too many awards but it’s a decent story with good acting, clever dialogue and an engaging plot.  It’s at least worth the rental fee.