Sherlock Holmes
Review
by Anthony Morris
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Sherlock Holmes
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It is no news flash that, to make a 19th century Sherlock Holmes work as a movie character in the 21st century, director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Swept Away) has had to make a few subtle and not-so-subtle changes.
Part
of the fun that comes from watching this particular version – and
thankfully, this version is a lot of fun – is seeing the ways that
Holmes has been updated while still keeping his core essence intact.
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, 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.
4
out
of 5
Sherlock Holmes
Australian release: 26th December,
2009
Official
Site: Sherlock Holmes
Cast: Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen, Elisabeth Moss
Director: Marc Lawrence
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