Sherlock Holmes [2009 film]

I want to start with the information that I am a huge fan of the original stories. This was the first adaptation I saw. Guy Ritchie took a lot of liberties with the stories, which I usually hate, but I feel like Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. were charming enough to make it work. (for the record I like the BBC Sherlock as well) I like that someone finally made Watson a young guy. Newly made doctor just back from the Afghanistan war, why would he be old? And I think that Robert Downey Jr. does a good job with Sherlock’s lack of emotion, while keeping him a funny and likeable character. I like that they took his boxing ability and made it into an interesting piece of the story, but they over-do it a little bit on the fight scenes and show more making it into an action movie. I didn’t like that Irene Adler is kind of a love interest—not a huge fan of romances, but I did like that a female character was given a stronger role than they ever get in the original stories. show less

Sherlock Holmes finds badguys by looking at clues, and punches people.

I didn't have any fun. There's no mystery, and the subplot of Watson getting married made me want to throw things at the television. Downey is probably great - I don't know, the camera never stops long enough for me to see anything.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: F
Special effects/design: D
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 1.7/4

Cameron Sprenger

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/503006130

The reason Sherlock Holmes fails at least as often as it succeeds is because more effort and attention was lavished upon the concept than upon the script. Given a worthy story, Downey's Holmes might have been memorable. Here, he's an interesting character in search of a worthwhile story.