Sherlock Holmes – Movie Review

*MINOR SPOILERS*

I swear these little gems are rare, but I seem to keep stumbling upon them. I thought for sure this wasn’t going to be good, but boy was I wrong. So let’s get on with the review then!

Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action/mystery film directed by Guy Ritchie, and is the first of two films starring Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes. As mentioned prior, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law who portray Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson respectively. In the film, set in 1891, eccentric detective Holmes and his companion Watson are hired by a secret society to foil a mysticist’s plot to expand the British Empire by seemingly supernatural means.

To start off, this film has an amazing score. Hans Zimmer does some fantastic work on this film, and it sounds original and very time specific. The film’s score has a Pirates of the Caribbean type of vibe to it, and really dragged me in since the moment the film started. Not only was Zimmer’s score fantastic, but oh my at that sound design! Every clink and clank sounded fantastic, and completely immersed me in this film. The only thing that wasn’t very convincing regarding the sound of the film was some accents by the actors. I will say I was impressed by Downey’s accent, but there were just some characters in this film where I could immediately tell that they were American trying to put on an English accent. Other than that minor issue, everything in this movie sounded fantastic, and really helped add to the environment of this film.

Moving from sound to visual, this film also did a great job on it’s visual aspects. Sets were huge and diverse, and really made me feel like I was in London back in 1891. There were some small issues with CGI and roads being too neat, but for the most part I felt that this film did a great job at making you feel as if you were in the English capital during the late 19th century. Not to mention, the fight scenes where Holmes is analyzing his situation in slow motion are incredibly awesome, and such a creative and original way to show fight sequences. Other than the minor issues I had regarding accents, the characters and actors in this film are great and very well played. Downey’s character was spot on, and reminded me a lot of Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. I know, I’m sorry I keep relating this film to that series, but they just seem somewhat relatable. The villain seen throughout the film was scary and a good match for Holmes, and I felt that Mark Strong did a fantastic job playing Lord Blackwood. There was an underlying villain, who I’m guessing will appear in the sequel, who seemed frighting and intimidating. I’m actually pretty excited to learn more about him and see if he is a worthy antagonist for Sherlock Holmes in the next film.

Like any movie, no movie goes without its flaws, and although this movie isn’t perfect I didn’t find much to complain about. One of the biggest issues I had, was that we didn’t get to see Holmes investigate all the crime scenes, mostly the one with the man that caught on fire and fell out the window. It almost felt as if it was originally there, but was then cut due to time constraints. This didn’t take away from the movie at all, I just felt it wouldn’t of hurt the film by including it either. Another issue I had was the ending of the film. Although I didn’t call the entire plot reveal by the end of the movie, it just didn’t seem to wow me like I was expecting it to. When Holmes is having the final dialog with Blockwood it almost felt a bit forced and unoriginal. Although I felt it was a bit strange, it does seem like something Holmes would have done anyways, so I can’t give it too much crap. Also, what was up with Rachel McAdams’ character. It’s not that I didn’t like her, she just didn’t seem to have much of a story arc to her. I’m not dissing her or the part, I just felt there could have been more character development to help the audience understand her motives and who she was as a person. It almost seemed like a writing error, or lack of.

Now it might sound like I would go on to give this film a “Very Good” on theVade Review Bar, but I didn’t think it was insanely great. It’s not that it was a bad or boring film, heck I barely had anything bad to talk about! Sherlock Holmes just didn’t seem to sweep me off my feet like some other films have done in the past. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were exceptional, and the sound and score to this film were absolutely phenomenal. The plot and story were great and the pacing was great, but I just didn’t feel blown away by the film at the end of the movie. So with all that being said, I decided to give Sherlock Holmes a “Good” on theVade Review Bar. If you haven’t already seen this film, go out and do it right now. This film has some great moments and I believe it is worth your time watching it. Sure it might not be the most amazing film you’ll ever see, but that’s not the point. The point is to entertain you, immerse you, make you laugh, and make you want to uncover the mystery. And I believe that Sherlock Holmes nails that perfectly.