#Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Awesome Applesauce: Charles Quevedo

When it comes to detective films, I absolutely love them. I was waiting for this movie to come out for weeks.... especially since Robert Downey Jr. was gonna be in it. I enjoyed Downey's performance in the movie, "Iron Man", and was waiting to see another great performance from him.

 As I sat down in the theater, I was surprised on how packed it was getting, considering that it was Sherlock Holmes' second weekend and thought that there would be a considerable drop-off in the amount of theater goers for this film. I was wrong. There were hardly any empty seats available.

 SHERLOCK HOLMES is based on Sir Arthur Conan Dyle's fictional character that has been published in four novels and sixty-four short stories. With renowned skills of observation, deductive reasoning and forensic skills; Holmes is a brilliant London-based "consulting detective" solving cases for Scotland Yard.

 Set in a grim Victorian London, the film jumps straight into the story. No origins being told. No flashbacks to explain any history. It begins with Sherlock Holmes (played by actor, Robert Downey Jr.) and his partner, Dr. Watson (played by actor, Jude Law), rescuing a young woman from a serial killing Satanist Lord Blackwood (played by actor, Mark Strong) who is about to kill her in a ritual sacrifce.  Holmes and Watson slips in-and-out of the shadows of an abandoned building like a pair of Victorian Rambos, incapacitating sentries one-by-one.  Like a Grandmaster chess player, Holmes is shown thinking 5 moves ahead, visualizing the exact punches and kicks he must inflict on the sentries to subdue them (the images in his head shown in very cool John Woo-style slow motion sequences).  The fight sequences in the first 7 minutes of the film are brutally violent. When watching this, something told me that this wasn't our grandfather's Sherlock Holmes. Blackwood is captured and later executed for his crimes. But when Blackwood seems to have risen from the dead by possibly supernatural means, the duo investigates and uncovers a sinister conspiracy by an unknown criminal mastermind who plots to take over England. Rachel McAdams portrays Irene Adler (Holmes' ex-girlfriend & thief who was the only criminal to get the best of him), helps in their investigation.

That's as far as I'm about to go in explaining the plot. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen the film yet... it's a mystery after all.  Although the film is dark in tone, there is quite a bit of humor to give the film some balance. The bro-mantic chemistry between Holmes and Watson is hilarious as they bicker back and forth like an old married couple (arguing over everything, ranging from Holmes experimenting on Watson's bulldog.... to Holmes' lack of hygene and slobbingly living habits). The relationship is a brotherly one and you can tell that they really care for each other (in a macho-type way).... which makes us care for both characters.

Many people thought that Downey and Law were cast simply as eye-candy for the female audience (for example: there is a boxing scene where Downey is shirtless and sweaty), but both actors' excellent performances prove that assumption is incorrect. They carry themselves on the big screen like a cool version of "The Odd Couple", giving vigoration to two characters that have been needing psychological makeovers for a very long time. Downey brings a cunning and scrappy toughness to his Holmes character, long seen as a stuffy uppercrust geek. Here, Downey portrays Holmes as an eccentric with borderline manic-depressive tendencies. When Holmes observes people around him, what appears as chaos to others, is a wealth of useful information to him. The Watson character, often played as "frumpy" and "bumbling" by other actors in the past, is reinvented by Law who plays him as a medical doctor with a distinguished charm and a hidden dark edge (having a gambling addiction and a boiling temper that fuels his contradictory talent for violence). Together, the two actors make Holmes and Watson very likable.... and dangerous.

The film drags somewhat in the middle, but it's necessary for the story to lay down clues for the viewing audience. The action sequences and explosions make up for the slowness in the story. The bare-fisted fight sequences are well choreographed, but somewhat strange (looking like a cross between "boxing", "jujitsu" .... and the way little girls slap-fight in elementary school). The swashbuckling and Die Hard-type sequences give the film an exciting end.

Guy Ritchie's directing skills and Hans Zimmer's quirky score propels this film to further heights.

SHERLOCK HOLMES is not perfect, but it's definitely worth seeing! It's a rousing adventure thrill ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

I give Sherlock Holmes an 8 out 10 rating!

 

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