Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Director: Guy Ritchie
Story: Lionel Wigram, Michael Robert Johnson
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Mark Strong
Music: Hans Zimmer
Time: 129 minutes
Bottom-line: May not appeal to purists, but this modern version of Holmes is quite stylish

One of the world’s greatest detectives, Sherlock Holmes, comes to the big screen in this Guy Ritchie film, and fair warning - the film is not meant for purists. Robert Downey Jr. plays Holmes, with Jude Law playing Dr. John Watson. While the timeline is the same as that in the Conan Doyle books, the characters and story-telling style take a modern turn.

Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) and his flat-mate Dr. Watson (Law) prevent a ritualistic murder, conducted by Lord Blackwood (Strong) just in time. Blackwood is sentenced to death, before which he requests to see Holmes one last time. He warns Holmes that three more deaths will take place, and nothing can be done to stop them. Blackwood is pronounced dead by Watson, but soon after, the tomb of Blackwood is destroyed, and rumour spreads that he has come back to life. The three predicted murders take place, in seemingly supernatural fashion. So, Holmes is back on the case, and he starts investigating Blackwood’s methods and whereabouts. Whether or not the detective can capture the villain forms the rest of the film.

The story is both good and bad. On comparing the characters, the Sherlock Holmes created by Conan Doyle wasn’t so violent, and was more studious. The Holmes shown here is a man of action, and is also stylish and cool. While the books dealt with fairly simple stories, I felt that the writers tried to complicate the story too much in the film. To me, till the ending, most of the film seemed absurd, but Holmes’ explanation in the climax was satisfactory. There are few scenes that add little bits of humour, and some scenes that are violent, which don’t really contribute to the main plot. But overall, I was impressed with the portrayal of Holmes; I also liked the way many clues were shown throughout the film, but the fact that they are clues is known only at the end.

Law as Dr. Watson

Robert Downey Jr. gives a scintillating performance as Sherlock Holmes. His acting was suave, and he had many catchy lines. Downey Jr. is known to give stylish performances, and though this is not what is expected when you think of the character of Holmes, he gives an excellent performance (and hence, hard core fans of the original Holmes will have mixed responses). Jude Law has acted superbly, as Dr. Watson. Both of the actors provide lots of subtle humour in many places –with their actions and fast, catchy dialogues – without too much of deviation from the main plot. Mark Strong and Rachel McAdams have not done that well, but they have very less screen time compared to Downey Jr. and Law.

Strong as Lord Blackwood

Hans Zimmer’s score is awesome. He was nominated for the Oscar, but lost to Up, but the scores of both films were equally good in my view. The cinematography was also good. The scene where the thug chases Holmes, and climax fight are shot brilliantly. The scenes where Holmes calculates the consequences of his martial arts tactics are shown in slow motion, and these gave an enhanced effect. But two drawbacks are that several scenes were shot in the dark, and during the first fight, the camera work could have been better. The period settings and the costumes are excellent too.

To conclude, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes succeeds mainly due to the powerhouse performance by Downey Jr., Zimmer’s superb score, and some good bits of camera work. The plot may seem useless to many, but I found it fairly believable. The ‘modern’ portrayal of Holmes was quite good, thanks to the acting. So, to the fans of Conan Doyle, forget about the original Holmes for two hours, and enjoy the film!

My Rating: 4/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 70%