Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes has a bit of everything, but keeps the important stuff too

When I first saw the trailer for Sherlock Holmes, with the title character on display beating up everybody in slow motion, I admit I was feeling queasy as I saw that they were taking one of my favorite literary characters, while claiming to “be original” or “different,” made him just like all the other tiresome junk that Hollywood had been replicating. Luckily, the trailer hadn’t caused far enough damage to my threshold of tolerance for I did still wind up watching it despite my trepidations. After all, it is still Sherlock Holmes and it’s been a long time since we’ve actually seen him in film.

Here’s the gist of the story. The famous sleuth Sherlock Holmes (played by Robert Downey Jr.) and his assistant Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) find and capture the villain, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), an occult leader responsible for various deaths. Blackwood is soon executed, but news soon spread that he had risen from the grave and murders start happening again. As the duo investigate further, clues lead them to a web of murder, deceit, secret societies, and black magic.

Director Guy Ritchie (Snatch) was said to have said he wanted to upgrade Sherlock Holmes for the current generation, generally meaning having more of that dizzying quick-cut and slo-mo action-hero thing that’s popular these days. Luckily, in this case, and what the trailer hadn’t shown (to its discredit), Sherlock still has his mind constantly working in overdrive, helped by a screenplay that keeps the character still quite verbal as we remember him. Yes, he does fight like a pro and is very physical in this movie (compared to previous movie incarnations), but thankfully, even during those moments, he is calculating his every punch, deducts the enemy’s reactions, and plans his next move (through his voiceovers). Ritchie has turned this classic character into something more like a comic book hero, which admittedly, still works. I can still “buy” this aspect of his character given the fact that in the traditional stories, Sherlock was never a pushover and knew how to handle himself (although the stories didn’t focus on that). Gone is the deer-stalker cap (popularized in the early plays) and the stiff, almost coldly logical personality. Robert Downey Jr’s version is disheveled, jittery, sometimes wildly random, and a bit of a social oddball. Yet, what the old version and the new version of Holmes share in common is his machine-like ability of deductive reasoning. The film does indicate that this trait can also be his stumbling block, and occasionally gets him in trouble. The writers did a fine job in this particular aspect of his character that is both familiar and refreshing. Guy Ritchie, much like his other films, directs with a good amount of wit and humor.

Dr. John Watson, played expertly by Jude Law, plays a more substantial role as Holmes’ assistant than what I remember of Watson. Watson is still a doctor, but is also quite physical with his fists (I suppose it can be explained because he used to be a doctor in the military), and oftentimes is a voice of reason against the sporadic, sometimes socially-challenged Holmes. Gone is the bumbling sidekick role. In the previous movie incarnations, I had always found Watson to be mostly comic relief, a dullard with little to do, and in the books, Holmes often seemed like he was well-off on his own and Watson seemed mostly invisible, yet there for the sake of a narrative device. This film version certainly makes him cooler and wittier. To add, the nutty Holmes appears to be more dependent on Watson, who provides a sense of stability for Holmes--one of the reasons why he has a hard time approving of Watson’s fiancé, as this would mean Watson, his roommate, would have to move out.

The rest of the characters also fare very well. Mark Strong’s Lord Blackwood, the villain, has the proper amount of menace that is reminiscent of suave, vampire-like villains. Even when he has little to do, he brings presence that feels solid and creepy. Rachel McAdams’ Irene Adler is a lot of fun, with a good amount of perk, feminine charm, and cleverness.

The sets, some real and some virtual, are gorgeous. London never looked so beautifully serene and rich with color to a level that feels classic and massive. The soundtrack brings a familiarly classic dimension as well.

The story, which I had been most worried about, is a lot of fun. True, it’s a bit on the fantastic side (a mix of James Bond and Angels and Demons), but it’s a good contrast and a challenge for the logic-minded Sherlock Holmes. The whole occult subject reminded me very much of Barry Levinson’s (underrated) Young Sherlock Holmes.

The movie, in essence, is a pop corn film. There’s plenty of action and pyrotechnics, and they’re fun. Much like the recent Star Trek, there’s a lot of energy. True, there are occasional chase scenes that cause a lot of expensive damage that doesn’t have much effect on society the next day (a small beef about modern action films). Still, the more cerebral-minded will find Downey Jr’s unusual take on Sherlock to be more than adequate. In the end, the film seems to have a bit of everything for everybody. Thankfully, there’s just enough mystery and actual “solving of cases” to still be a pretty good detective story. *** out of **** stars.

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