Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Screenplay by: Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, and
  Simon Kinberg

Genre: Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Running Time: 128 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Theater

Nothing escapes him.

[IMDb]

Comments: Well, this is certainly not your father's Sherlock Holmes. The same thing was said earlier this year about Star Trek, but there is a difference here. The reboot of Star Trek was actually good. I'm not saying Sherlock Holmes is a horrible film, but it's a generally muddled motion picture with several flaws. Robert Downey Jr. is fine as Holmes, and he's both charming and funny in the role. However there are several problems, including the convoluted plot, which take away from the film. My biggest complaint is that Sherlock Holmes feels like a Guy Ritchie film rather than a Sherlock Holmes film. To be fair, the trailers present Sherlock Holmes as an action-packed Vin Diesel-fest, and while it certainly has more testosterone than anything Basil Rathbone did, it's not continuous action. And while parts of the film stay true to the Holmes philosophy (the amateur boxing, for example), Sherlock Holmes failed to live up to my expectations (and most likely Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's as well). It's worth a rent, but that's about it.