My Review: Sherlock Holmes (7/10)

¨Madame, I need you to remain calm and trust me, I'm a professional. Beneath this pillow lies the key to my release.¨

Sherlock Holmes took me completely by surprise. Guy Ritchie`s Sherlock is very different from the one the public is familiar with. Yes he is smart as always, but Ritchie makes this Sherlock more athletic and in occasions he seems to have even better moves than James Bond (take the boxing scene for example or the opening sequence). Holmes takes a whole new level in this movie as he becomes more of an intellectual action heroe. This was one of the movies I was looking forward the most this year and when I heard Guy Ritchie (Snatch, RocknRolla, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) was going to direct this film I was excited. The movie is very entertaining despite having a weak plot and a confusing story because of the chemistry between the two main characters and the comedy that works much better than the actual action scenes. Robert Downey Junior is the true reason this movie worked because he is just so much fun to watch on screen and he gave a terrific performance once again. He has so many funny punch lines like the one I quoted above which is what really makes this movie work. This is an entirely different Sherlock Holmes from the one we are used to seeing or reading about, but he is fun none the less. The plot has several flaws, but the main ingredient is the performances from Downey and Law. The movie can be appreciated more as a buddy comedy than an actual smart action thriller.

I do not want to waste too much time on the plot because it is not all that important and you probably will enjoy it more the less you know about it, but I will introduce the main characters. Robert Downey Jr. proves once again that he is among the best actors at the present. He is Sherlock Holmes, the smart detective who never misses a sign and can deduce anything from very small clues. This Sherlock can also take some blows and give several more so we see him in a lot of action. He also tends to get depressive if he doesn`t have any case to resolve so he tries to keep his brain busy at all times. His companion is Dr. Watson, played brilliantly by Jude Law. Both of them are roommates and work together in every case, and Watson seems to be the one who tries to keep Sherlock out of trouble. In a way Watson takes care of Sherlock and makes sure that his brain doesn`t get him into too much trouble and that requires keeping his mouth shut at times. The relationship between these two characters is what makes the movie work. Downey Jr. and Law are excellent together and most laughs come from the interactions they have and the situations they end up in. Rachel McAdams plays Irene Adler; she is a con artist who even fooled Sherlock a couple of times in the past. Even a character like Sherlock Holmes can be blinded by love and that helped make his character more believable. She is also a great actress and a pleasure to watch on screen. Watson is engaged to Mary Morstan, played by Kelly Reilly, and Sherlock is not too excited about his partner leaving him. The villain, Lord Blackwood, is played by Mark Strong (who reminded me a lot of Andy Garcia). He practices black magic and proves to be quite an adversary for Sherlock. The acting and chemistry between the actors in this film is one of the highlights of the movie.

The plot has to be taken very lightly in order for you to really enjoy this film, but by the end of the movie most everything is explained and ends up making sense. The real magic in Sherlock Holmes is the chemistry between Law and Downey Jr. who have proven that they can make a franchise out of this. Ritchie`s directing style is present here once again with several action scenes filmed in slow motion, combined with some flashbacks and flash forwards in order to follow Sherlock´s mind and chain of thought. He also creates interesting and original characters even from very familiar ones. Downey Jr. is one of the best at delivering funny dialogues and he has great screen presence which is a must for an action star. I think there are only a handful of actors in Hollywood who can match this kind of screen charisma that Downey Jr. has. Overall I recommend this film because it is highly entertaining even though the plot has some weak points in it.