Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Review Sherlock Holmes

Is it bad when you don't recognize a director's work, especially if that director has carved out a look and feel in his films that are unmistakably his?  I didn't realize that Guy Ritchies had directed this film until after I had finished watching, when I was reading about the film on Wikipedia.  Looking back on it, I guess I could see that tinge of Ritchie.  Sherlock Holmes is also the first Ritchie film I've seen since Revolver, which was, literally, one of the worst films I've ever seen.

So, Robert Downing, Jr. and Jude Law team up as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Warson, respectively.  Ritchie takes some liberties with the Sherlock Holmes character, but nonetheless works within Doyle's framework.  Mark Strong is the creepy bad dude and Rachel McAdams is the femme fatale.
The scene opens up with Sherlock Holmes stopping Strong's murder of a nubile woman in a mystical, magical (almost satanic) ceremony.  Strong's character is Lord Blackwood, a nobleman and member of an underground magical society.  But how much magic is actually practiced is anyone's guess.  Strong is set to be hung, and Downing, Jr falls into listlessness after the case is closed.
When Strong's body disappears from his tomb and somebodies start dying around town, Holmes and Watson are back on the case.  There's more the film, like McAdams' character who is an 'ex'-thief and is being controlled by some mysterious fellow with a Travis Bickle-like contraption hidden in his sleeve (hint: it brings out a gun real quick.)  The police force is a bunch of bumblers.  Oh yeah, and there's some plan for England to re-invade and take over the US.
While Sherlock Holmes may not be a work of art, it is entertaining.  It may not be expertly set up like Ritchie's better films, but it is playing with a genre (blockbuster remake of some other pop-culture medium) which is inherently formulaic.  Working within this restrictions is maybe what Ritchie needed and he did just fine.

Score:  B

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I give it an A myself.

Supp mate.

iulia said...

great movie:)

Trevoreon said...

Robert Downey Jr practically vomits charisma.

roksoer said...

i thought it was okay but not better than a B so i agree

Rareform said...

Great movie, sick review, keep it up man.

Admin said...

Very good movie !

Mundane said...

I'm sorry, but a B?
Definitely worth more.