SHERLOCK
HOLMES
With
Robert
Downey
Jr.,
Jude
Law,
Rachel
McAdams,
Mark
Strong,
Eddie
Marsan,
James
Fox,
Kelly
Reilly,
William
Hope,
Robert
Maillet
Written
by Michael
Robert
Johnson,
Anthony
Peckham,
Simon
Kinberg,
Lionel
Wigram
(based
on characters
created
by Arthur
Conan
Doyle)
Directed
by Guy
Ritchie
When
I interviewed
The
Descent
director
Neil
Marshall
for
Fangoria
while
he was
shooting
Doomsday
in South
Africa,
he mentioned
future
projects
including
a Roman
war
movie
(Centurion),
and
a potential
Sherlock
Holmes
project.
So imagine
my surprise
when
news
came
through
of Snatch
director
Guy
Ritchie
nabbing
the
subject!
With
Ritchie's
best
movies
set
in the
colourful
criminal
underworld
of London,
here
he gets
the
chance
to do
so in
a historical
period
context,
and
as the
vessel
of his
tale
one
of the
literary
world's
best
known
super-sleuths.
In the
thespian
hands
of Robert
Downey,
Jr.,
Holmes
earns
a far
more
gritty
and
action-packed
persona
than
that
of the
character's
almost
permanent
fixture
of a
tweed
hunting
cap
and
calabash
pipe
of yore.
As his
trusty
side-kick
Watson
(played
by Law,
who
could
easily
have
taken
the
Holmes
role),
the
formidable
pair
is found
at a
cross-roads
in their
relationship.
They've
just
put
away
a killer
with
an occult
streak
(Lord
Blackwood),
and
Watson
is about
to be
married,
set
to leave
221B
Baker
Street.
Besides
his
fiancé's
urging,
Watson
is fed-up
with
Holmes
unruliness,
unconventional
house-keeping
and
general
oddball
personality.
True,
these
all
make
up part
of his
brilliant
analytical
brain
foraging
every
bit
of evidence
to get
to the
truth
of both
high
profile
cases
and
even
the
most
mundane
daily
occurrences
- it
proves
a bit
too
much
for
the
more
level
headed
Watson
to bear.
Their
victory
over
Blackwood
soon
returns
to haunt
them
as he
has
risen
from
the
grave
after
being
hanged
for
his
crimes.
Corpses
turn
up amoung
a secret
and
powerful
society,
and
it seems
as though
the
target
is set
at the
entire
Kingdom.
With
both
wits
and
the
(sometimes
faltering)
abilities
of action-heroes,
Holmes
and
Watson
have
to see
past
their
differences
to save
not
only
their
city
and
the
lives
of many,
but
their
country
as a
whole.
With
the
aide
of ample
digital
assistance,
Victorian
London
is represented
in a
way
hardly
seen
before
as the
backdrop
to a
very
entertaining,
slick
movie
filled
with
action,
mystery
and
humour.
Downey,
Law
and
Strong
pull
it off
well,
but
unfortunately
(personally
I feel)
the
choice
of Rachel
McAdams
was
a terrible
one
for
the
female
lead
- unfortunately
mainly
because
she
does
very
little
for
me (visually
or in
an acting
capacity)
- as
bland
as a
dry
cracker
and
with
a cuteness
one
can
liken
to the
Care
Bears
- hardly
a temptress!
Angelina
Jolie
would've
been
too
much,
but
someone
like
Rhona
Mitra
would've
struck
a great
balance.
4
/ C
- Paul
Blom
0 1
2
3
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5 6
-
A -
B -
C
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below
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Ritchie's
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