Sherlock Holmes Review

With his reckless attitude, Downey Jr may not be the refined Sherlock Holmes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s conjuring, but this feisty reimagining is strikingly impressive and cements Downey’s standing as one of the best actors in Hollywood.

Well said! Uh, whoever you are. We're sure to see that guy again, eh?

Anyway, saw this yesterday. Meh. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was hoping. It had a handful of clever moments, though not enough of Holmes' vaunted deduction, and more than one scene is littered with mumbling, which makes a few lines of thought a tad hard to follow. And since they're designed to be quick and intricate, anyway, the effect is doubled.

The main thing, for me, is that they didn't really finish bringing their own twisted version of Holmes to life. Were this an actual Sherlock Holmes film, they could leave a lot unsaid, because the character's reputation precedes him, but since this is a slant on the familiar, I think it could have done with a lot more time to establish the ways in which he's different, and why. If you're going to put a new spin on an old character, I think it's worth taking some time to situate them a bit more.

We see that he's slovenly, yes, and he clearly gets away with things because he's brilliant, but I'd like to have seen a bit more dimension and creativity there. For example: House M.D. took Holmes, put him in a modern setting and exaggerated his boorishness. Sherlock Holmes takes House's version of the character and dials it back. He's a halfway-House, if you'll forgive the pun.

I guess I'd probably give it , rounding up a little from what I'd rather give it to account for the fact that my expectations were probably a bit high. I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing it, but I was expecting it to be, well, a bit rompier, if that's even a word.

I agree with Chris. The film isn't bad, it's just terribly unfocused at times, and not quite as slick and exciting as it seemed to want to be. It has its moments, but for the most part it just kind of lumbers along. Lots and lots of tertiary dialogue, and scenes that are strung together longer than they needed to be.

The plot seems to unfurl when it wants to, and sluggishly at that. I found myself bored for much of the second act. Even Downey's usual charm and wit is neutured. It had the potential to be an engaging character study, but the writing felt a little too restrictive for Downey's tastes, and you could hardly understand a bloody thing he said.

I'm not an acolyte of traditional Sherlock Holmes lore, so I was expecting to like this a lot. But as a film, it just doesn't hit all the right marks. It could have been brisk and fun and absorbing, but it just wasn't. Enjoyable enough for the fleeting patches of brilliance - the "disguise" sequence was phenomenal - but still very much a letdown.

I agree with most of the comments on the film, including Adi's criticism of Downey's English accent. It wasn't so much the accent, it was the mannered way of talking which grated on my nerves. It did sag badly at times, but honestly this is a Guy Ritchie film so I think we knew what we were going to get - ie lots of fighting and blather. I thought the Dickensian sets and cgi of London were pretty well done. Downey carried the film tho, without him it wouldn't have been so much fun.

I think Jude Law held his own pretty well, though. He and Downey marginal chemistry together, and Law seemed to "get" his character pretty well too. His perpetual annoyance with Holmes had me giggling more than Downey's one-liners, I think. He just felt more naturally suited to his character, with far more real emotion to work from.

Considering i was expecting a big turkey and am not a Jude Law fan, found this one pleasantly enjoyable. It wasn't fantastic or what i'd necessarily want from a Holmes film but everything considered it gets a + here

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I sure like Guy Ritchie's films. I was expecting nothing but entertainment, which means to me a good (maybe average) movie. That's exactly what I found.

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were great in their roles. The fighting scenes were very Guy Ritchie, which is good and the plot, despite the criticism over it, I enjoyed very much.

I liked the movie, but I hated Rachel McAdams. She just had this way of making her character completely useless, which I hated. That was probably what really dragged it down for me, but other than that I enjoyed it.

Too much CGI!

Blow something up for real. Let's see some real weather.

I too found Rachel MacAdams with her kewpie doll prettiness unbelievable as a nefarious femme fatale.

Mark Strong was fine as the bad guy and Robert Downey, Jr. carried the movie with his quirky portrayal of Sherlock Holmes as a tortured mad genius.

And it was too bloody long! Very few movie should exceed ninety minutes.

I cant wait to see this one

It'd be pretty nice to see a sherlock holmes remake, eh?

I agree, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law did have awesome chemistry! I'm 23, and my idea of Holmes was that he was an older, distinguished gentleman yet this film portrayed him as a bit James Bondish, which was good, just not what I expected. I enjoyed the film, and hope they make a part two. My only problem was with Rachel McAdams...I'm not a big fan of today's popular female actresses, and she just doesn't have the emotional range that would have made her character more believable and enjoyable to watch. Most of today's female actresses, IMHO, are lacking that talent. Not all, just most.

Edit to add: I liked the scene on Tower Bridge, but I think it would have been much better if they stuck to realistic camera movements, rather than those sweeping, obviously computer generated ones.

This is not a phoney trailer. Just released to video.

"Sherlock Holmes" (2009), directed by Guy Ritchie, is a thriller with Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, Jude Law as Dr. Watson and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler.


In the victorian London, the detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Watson are preparing themselves in order to attend to the execution of Lord Blackwood, which they recently arrested.
The man is known for using black magic, and is responsible for the death of 5 Young women in black magic rituals.
After the execution, despite Watson's confirmation of his death, Blackwood seems to be back from the death...


Even if the film was not at all what I was expecting as a fan of Conan Doyle's stories, it is still great mix of humor and action, and clearly one of the best films of 2009.


I recommend you to see it, and it's sequel: "Sherlock Holmes: a game of shadows"