For
example, Holmes (played to the hilt by Robert Downey Jr) isn't above
going the punch, but by using his much-famed powers of deduction he can
deduce the best ways to incapacitate his opponents.
So while Holmes now
gets involved in the kind of big action set pieces movie-goers like to
see these days, his core – that of a man who uses deduction to outsmart
his opponents – remains for the most part intact.
Downey's the
current Hollywood champ as far as being a charming smart-arse while
still hinting at depths within goes, which means you couldn’t ask for a
better Holmes.
Jude Law as Watson has a slightly more thankless role
but he brings real life to it, and while the buddy-banter between
Holmes and Watson isn’t perfect, they have real chemistry together.
For
the most part the story gives the cast plenty of space to be charming
while providing a number of moderately interesting mysteries for Holmes
to tackle in between dodging explosions and getting into punch-ups.
The
plot itself is a little thin – black magician and serial killer Lord
Blackwood (Mark Stone) conducts an evil scheme seemingly from beyond
the grave – but it moves fast, has enough twists to keep things
engaging, and never forgets that for all the talk of magic and secret
societies, Sherlock Holmes is about explaining things logically.
Anyway, the real fun in a Sherlock Holmes story is Holmes himself and this particular Holmes is a lot more fun to watch than most. DVD Special Features
With a film like this (which took in over $510M at the worldwide box
office) it's of no surprise that there are Special Features a-plenty on
the numberous incarnations of the DVD release (from steel cases to
lenticular cover editions). For the most part, you'll get at least most
of the following:
Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented Drawbridges & Dollies: Designing a Late Victorian London Not a Deerstalker Cap in Sight Ba-ritsu: a Tutorial Elementary English: Perfecting Sherlock's Accent The One That Got Away Powers of Observation and Deduction The Sherlockians Future Past
Not
to shabby, it's not all good, but it's good to see some effort has been
made. Plus, it's a fun flick, so well worth having in your collection
to return to on those cold, boring Friday nights.
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 70%
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