22nd January, 2010

DAVID ADAMS

Sherlock Holmes (M)

In a word: Surprising

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS: Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) and Dr Watson (Jude Law) ponder another problem... "This is not Holmes as we know him - the deerstalker and pipe are gone – but Robert Downey Jr revels in his role as Holmes - a cross somewhere between Hercule Poirot and Iron Man - while Jude Law captures the essence of the strait-laced, exasperated Dr Watson, who craves respectability (something Holmes has no time for)."

I must admit I was somewhat worried about where Guy Ritchie’s take on Sherlock Holmes was going when, after a dark opening sequence, we find Holmes engaged in a Fight Club-style bare fist fight somewhere in London’s dingy underbelly. 

After all this is Sherlock Holmes, a much-loved icon on British literature and someone of whom many of us have a very fixed impression of who he should be…and who he shouldn’t.

That said, however, I persevered and found – almost in spite of myself – that I was ended up very much enjoying this intriguing reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creations.

The Holmes and Watson that we meet in this film – which, in typical Ritchie-style, runs at a breakneck speed and is full of bloody brawls and colourful characters - are younger and  more active than we may typically picture them (hence the fist-fighting).

This is not Holmes as we know him - the deerstalker and pipe are gone – but Robert Downey Jr revels in his role as Holmes - a cross somewhere between Hercule Poirot and Iron Man - while Jude Law captures the essence of the strait-laced, exasperated Dr Watson, who craves respectability (something Holmes has no time for).

This time, in a story that originally appeared as a graphic novel and was not one of Conan Doyle’s imagination, they’re pitted against the dastardly Lord Blackwood, a self-styled “dark lord” apparently capable of amazing powers - a role nicely captured by Mark Strong (a familiar face to any who have watched British crime dramas on TV), and a cast of power hungry well-to-do bad guys ably backed by a gang of uncouth thugs.

There’s twists and turns aplenty as the sleuths - along with the aid of the harried Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) - doggedly pursue the ‘truth’ about a series of heinous killings through the dark streets of Victorian London, not the least of which is the arrival of the dangerous Irene Adler (played by Rachel McAdams), who keeps everyone guessing as to whose side she’s really on.

Plenty of room for a sequel here with an ending left hanging (just as well, given one is apparently set to start production).

If you’re a fan of the character we traditionally take as Holmes, then take a deep breath and put aside any preconceptions before you walk in the door of the cinema (Conan Doyle’s influence here is really only a veneer, after all - apart from the names, there's little enough resemblance to the Holmes of his books). Do that, and you’ll find it a couple of hours well spent.

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