Review:
When I first read that Guy Ritchie, the guy behind the vastly overrated gangster comedies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, was making a Sherlock Holmes movie that would focus on the action hero aspect of the character, I expected something terrible. But due to great casting (Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law AND Mark Strong? You wouldn’t even need to add Rachel McAdams, I’m in!) and good advance word, I actually wanted to see this film. A big mistake. The film is every bit as horrible as expected, a generic action thriller with nary a good moment. Holmes detecting mostly consists of smelling stuff, hitting men bigger than him and being outsmarted by every second person in the film. There are 60 original Holmes stories, so there really was no reason for the film to create some crazy conspiracy story that barely makes sense and is riddled with plot holes. That Ritchie’s directing is at best mediocre I expected, but it was actually painful to watch how he managed to reduce the great cast to horrible actors. No matter how you feel about the real Sherlock Holmes, avoid this film. How it ever came to be successful is a mystery that would have even intrigued the great detective.
Random Observations:
Hans Zimmer’s score is nominated for an Oscar. It was certainly very effective in calling attention to itself, but I wouldn’t consider that a good thing. If you notice that the music does not fit the scene, you are taken out of it. Also: who the hell thought that some Irish folk music would be good for the end credits?
I have to admit that there was one redeeming factor to the film: the exchanges between Holmes and Watson were often quite entertaining. But that was not nearly enough to save the film from being horrible.
There are many more bad things about this film I want to address, but I fear that I might have a heartache if I continue thinking about the film. So for now, be warned to stay away.
Tags: 2009, action movie, American Film, Anthony Peckham, Arthur Conan Doyle, based on previously published material, British Film, Comedy, Eddie Marsan, english, franchise film, Geraldine James, Guy Ritchie, Hans Matheson, Hans Zimmer, James Fox, Jude Law, Kelly Reilly, Lionel Wigram, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Mark Strong, Michael Robert Johnson, minute movie review, movie review, Movies, Oscar, Rachel McAdams, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Maillet, Sherlock Holmes, Simon Kinberg, Snatch, Thriller, William Hope, William Houston