Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray] (2009 original; edició 2010)

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Robert Downey Jr. – Sherlock Holmes
Jude Law – Dr Watson
Rachel McAdams – Irene Adler
Mark Strong – Lord Henry Blackwood
Eddie Marsan – Inspector Lestrade
Robert Maillet – Dredger
Geraldine James – Mrs Hudson
Kelly Reilly – Mary Morstan
William Houston – Constable Clark
Hans Matheson – Lord Coward
James Fox – Sir Thomas Rotheram
William Hope – Ambassador Standish
Clive Russell – Captain Tanner

Screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kingberg
Directed by Guy Ritchie

Colour. 128 min.

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Basically, Sherlock Holmes meets Rambo, James Bond and Bruce Lee; Conan Doyle meets Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and, above all, Dan Brown; ergo, the movie’s title is nothing more than a piece of very dishonest marketing. I don’t mind that. I expected it. What I didn’t expect was anything so dull. The plot – if that’s the word – takes half an hour to get going, then moves with the speed of a sleepy snail, finally resolves into staggering nonsense and, worst of all, is constantly diluted with Watson’s future marriage to Mary someone and Holmes’s present romance with Irene Adler (no, nothing in common with the formidable lady from “A Scandal in Bohemia”). Some scenes try to be comic. I see the attempt. I don’t see the result. Others try to be dark and scary. They manage to be comic. That’s an achievement of sorts. The dialogue is a masterpiece. It takes genius to write a talky two-hour movie without a single memorable line. The cast cannot be blamed under the circumstances. But Downey Jr. is truly remarkable. He thinks acting is made of mumbling and staring. It isn’t. Law at least tries; but with a script like that he can’t win. Ritchie directs the whole debacle with a frantic urgency which is exciting for some time but quite tedious all the time. All in all, plenty of spectacle and very little substance. I enjoyed this kind of movie when I was 12. I can still enjoy it if I first saw it when I was 12. Perhaps one day the kids of today would consider this a cult classic. I consider it a waste of time. ( )

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 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. ( )

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 ( )