Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Reviewed by Mike Attebery
There was a lot of “you’ve never seen Holmes like THIS before” talk last year when the first pictures emerged of Robert Downey Jr. playing the master detective. Between the shots of Downey wearing some sort of absurd hat and sunglasses, and the shirtless stills of him resembling a ‘Snatch’-era Brad Pitt, it seemed the Warner Brothers PR folks wanted us to be agog at the blasphemy with which Guy Ritchie and company were approaching Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary creation.
Now, having seen the film twice, and enjoyed it immensely both times, I see the early photos as merely a rehash of the “Schumacher dared to put nipples on the Batsuit” school of film publicity:
Hopefully this will be the last time we have to see this kind of cheap tactic for a while, cause the film deserved much better. Fortunately, it found an enthusiastic audience, so we’ll soon be watching Holmes square off against Professor Moriarty in a sequel which begins shooting this fall. I’m looking forward to it.
So then, what of the contribution of Guy “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” Ritchie to the world of London detective work? In my opinion, I feel the director and the material are a startlingly perfect match. Frankly, Ritchie’s signature film, and his follow-up, while entertaining enough, just weren’t quite my thing. As for the follow-up to his follow-up, I’m probably one of the very few people who actually watched that train wreck from start to finish, and boy oh boy, it’s every bit as bad as you've heard.
Following the fiasco of ‘Swept Away,’ it seemed Ritchie lost his way in a repetitive crime film/Kabbalahesque haze, until he found his way to this series, and like I said, the combo works wonders. Ritchie is famous for his speed up/slow down, cut-cut-cut style of sequence assembly. Until now, Sherlock Holmes seemed to be the stuff of medium shot talking, mixed with touches of fog and tea. Here the story, which for all intents and purposes feels like a classic Holmes mystery (the screenplay was written by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, and Simon Kinberg) meets a frenetic style that brings just enough impatience and energy to the production to keep things interesting.
As for Downey, he’s perfect. Had Englishman Hugh Laurie not hopped the pond to portray the Holmes inspired ‘House’ on TV, he might have made an excellent choice for yet another BBC deerstalker-sporting rendition of Holmes, but seeing as he’s done such a great job playing America’s favorite anti-social medical sleuth, it seems only fair that an American such as Downey be given the chance to hop a reverse flight to London and try his hand at one of English literature’s most famous characters. As House, Laurie is good. As Holmes, Downey is awesome. He portrayal is a classic, and he brings the rest of the production up with him. Even Jude Law (as Watson) is likable in this one, and that's a first as far as I’m concerned. Rachel McAdams provides solid romance and rivalry. And Mark Strong is a capable villain.
This is a handsome film that hits Blu-ray in a stellar digital to digital print. The picture, sound, and extras, including a Maximum Movie Mode (which should simply be a standard BD feature by now) are all top notch.
I highly recommend this one. If you get a copy, get the Blu-ray. It’s dynamite.