Movie Review: Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes Is One Captivating Crime Scene

Case: Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie:2009)

Evidence no.1: Robert Downey Jr.

Call him Tony Stark, call him Chaplin, call him Kirk Lazarus, call him a chameleon. Mr Downey now owns the legendary Sherlock Holmes, bringing an eccentric edge akin to Depp's Jack Sparrow, with more hustle and bustle, and without sacrificing the amazing deductive skills of the detective at all. The perfect reimagination married with the perfect actor.

Evidence no.2: The Conspirators

Or the supporting cast, rather. Jude Law plays Watson as the odd match to Downey's Holmes; straight, reasonable, but at the same time, fetishly attracted to the notion of adventure. Mark Strong is pure menace as the villainous Lord Blackwood while Rachel McAdams is charming is Irene Adler, although arguably both are reduced into cliched stereotypes by the final act. And last, Eddie Marsan steals the scene as dimwit Scotland Yard Inspector Lestrade, like he does in most of his films.

Evidence no 3: The Mastermind and his Plan

Kinetic, frenetic, but definitely one of a kind, Guy Ritchie is the right man for the job. After a string of mediocre and even bad efforts, Mr. Ritchie hits all the right notes by mixing his wonderful wit, his penchant for the pulsating and the uniquely un-linear with producer Lionel Wigram's reinvention of Holmes as a man of action. The story borders on the supernatural, but along with all of the other 'slight alterations', as long as the bond-brothers of Baker Street retain some of the good of old -as they undoubtedly do-, who gives a damn?

Hypothesis:

Grimy, gritty, gripping, but above all, an immensely entertaining funride throughout Victorian London, Guy Ritchie's take on the world's most reknowned detective is the most captivating crime scene this Christmas.

8/10

-R: Live Long & Prosper