'Holmes' for the holidays
Dr. Watson (Jude Law) and Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) between explosive moments.
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Sherlock Holmes
Running time: 128 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 (extreme action violence, startling images, suggestive material)
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Who let the hounds of the Baskervilles out?
British director Guy Ritchie, that's who.
Ritchie may push stylized filmmaking to the brink of over-indulgence in wildly entertaining crime-thrillers like "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch." But when he's not catering to the whims of the lady of the house, now ex-wife Madonna, in a sultry, boring remake like "Swept Away," Ritchie knows how to fill a movie screen with explosive action worth watching.
"Sherlock Holmes," the umpteenth big screen or TV rehash of the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's revered consulting detective, is a visit to London's late 19th century 221-B Baker Street like never before.
With brooding Robert Downey Jr. in the lead as Holmes and Jude Law as collaborator Dr. John Watson, Ritchie's take on Holmes is to turn the keen observer, bare knuckles boxer and master of deduction into -- are you ready? -- an intellectual superhero.
Shocked? Don't be. It's an elementary 21st century movie character makeover, my dear movie-goer.
When I read the Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels in my youth, I found them intellectually fascinating for a kid of 12 or 13, but a little, shall we say, dusty.
With Ritchie behind the camera and a screenplay-by-committee (three screenwriters, working from a story conceived by two others), "Sherlock Holmes" is a mad dash with equal parts wit and truly special special effects. In layman's terms, that means that Ritchie blows stuff up real good.
Ritchie doesn't cater to Holmes' signatures, such as the old fogy deerstalker hat and the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson."
The filmmaker does, however, cater to his own signatures. Slow-motion leads to sped-up action a couple of times (one too many, from this aisle seat). I must admit, though, it's an effective way to showcase Holmes' thought process as he prepares to take out an oversize goon or bare knucks boxer.
What I like best about this "Sherlock Holmes" is the performance of Downey. That shouldn't surprise anyone. Downey, a two-time Oscar nominee ("Chaplin," "Tropic Thunder"), is an immensely talented and versatile actor. Case in point, his temperamental inventor of war tools and anti-hero in "Iron Man" and the upcoming sequel.
Downey's Holmes, though also a superhero of sorts of his time, cares more about the intellectual challenge when "the game's afoot." In this case it's Mark Strong (also on screen in "The Young Victoria") as Lord Blackwood, a deviously worthy dark arts-loving adversary who warrants Holmes' full attention.
Law ("My Blueberry Nights"), who'll appear soon in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" along with the late Heath Ledger, handles his role as Holmes' almost-equal partner with style and ease. And Rachel McAdams ("The Time Traveler's Wife") plays the sultry femme fatale role quite well as Irene Adler, a character mentioned briefly in Doyle's short story "A Scandal in Bohemia."
I'm not sure how the Holmes' expert devotees, the Baker Street Irregulars, will feel about their hero out front in a new-fashioned action thrill ride that, for the most part, delegates the deducting to the backseat.
I know this, though. This "Sherlock Holmes" is one hell of a stylized entertainment ride.
British director Guy Ritchie, that's who.
Ritchie may push stylized filmmaking to the brink of over-indulgence in wildly entertaining crime-thrillers like "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch." But when he's not catering to the whims of the lady of the house, now ex-wife Madonna, in a sultry, boring remake like "Swept Away," Ritchie knows how to fill a movie screen with explosive action worth watching.
"Sherlock Holmes," the umpteenth big screen or TV rehash of the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's revered consulting detective, is a visit to London's late 19th century 221-B Baker Street like never before.
With brooding Robert Downey Jr. in the lead as Holmes and Jude Law as collaborator Dr. John Watson, Ritchie's take on Holmes is to turn the keen observer, bare knuckles boxer and master of deduction into -- are you ready? -- an intellectual superhero.
Shocked? Don't be. It's an elementary 21st century movie character makeover, my dear movie-goer.
When I read the Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels in my youth, I found them intellectually fascinating for a kid of 12 or 13, but a little, shall we say, dusty.
With Ritchie behind the camera and a screenplay-by-committee (three screenwriters, working from a story conceived by two others), "Sherlock Holmes" is a mad dash with equal parts wit and truly special special effects. In layman's terms, that means that Ritchie blows stuff up real good.
Ritchie doesn't cater to Holmes' signatures, such as the old fogy deerstalker hat and the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson."
The filmmaker does, however, cater to his own signatures. Slow-motion leads to sped-up action a couple of times (one too many, from this aisle seat). I must admit, though, it's an effective way to showcase Holmes' thought process as he prepares to take out an oversize goon or bare knucks boxer.
What I like best about this "Sherlock Holmes" is the performance of Downey. That shouldn't surprise anyone. Downey, a two-time Oscar nominee ("Chaplin," "Tropic Thunder"), is an immensely talented and versatile actor. Case in point, his temperamental inventor of war tools and anti-hero in "Iron Man" and the upcoming sequel.
Downey's Holmes, though also a superhero of sorts of his time, cares more about the intellectual challenge when "the game's afoot." In this case it's Mark Strong (also on screen in "The Young Victoria") as Lord Blackwood, a deviously worthy dark arts-loving adversary who warrants Holmes' full attention.
Law ("My Blueberry Nights"), who'll appear soon in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" along with the late Heath Ledger, handles his role as Holmes' almost-equal partner with style and ease. And Rachel McAdams ("The Time Traveler's Wife") plays the sultry femme fatale role quite well as Irene Adler, a character mentioned briefly in Doyle's short story "A Scandal in Bohemia."
I'm not sure how the Holmes' expert devotees, the Baker Street Irregulars, will feel about their hero out front in a new-fashioned action thrill ride that, for the most part, delegates the deducting to the backseat.
I know this, though. This "Sherlock Holmes" is one hell of a stylized entertainment ride.
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