Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sherlock Holmes is a truly delightful film. It has plenty of action, a strong plot, great cinematography, and good acting. It is put together really well, this is no slap stick, low budget movie making. It is movie making as an art. Its only negative is that it drags a bit.

Plot: At the beginning of the film, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) catches Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) who has killed five innocents in his pursuits of the black arts. Lord Blackwood is executed and pronounced dead by Doctor Watson (Jude Law), Holmes sidekick so to speak, and Holmes considers the case closed. Holmes is considering new cases to pursue when Lord Blackwood comes back from the dead. Lord Blackwood starts killing again to renew his quest to take over England and then the world using the black arts. Holmes must figure out what Blackwood is up to and how to stop him before Blackwood kills anyone else. To add to the mix Holmes must also deal with Watson’s new fiancée’ and the prospect of Watson moving out of the rooms they share, and perhaps quitting assisting him with his cases. Plus his old criminal girlfriend shows up and she has her own agenda which somehow includes Holmes and playing on his past or perhaps current feelings for her. Can Holmes unravel all this before someone else dies? You will have to watch the film to find out.

There is some great cinematography in this film. They choreographed a lot of the scenes very well. Everything was well laid out and well done. They used some great film angles and put together some great scenes. The action was well choreographed; it had great explosions, and excellent fight scenes. I especially liked the scenes they did where Holmes would outline his thought process one step at a time in slow motion and then they would show you the result in real time. This device sounds kind of weird but it really worked for this film since it is a mystery and Holmes reasonings are the cornerstone of the plot. Plus they only did this a couple of times so it wasn’t overused or annoying. I also loved the way the city and the characters looked. It had an authentic feel to me. A lot of thought was put into the look and the feel of this film. It is nice to see a well put together film for a change.

The acting was excellent too. Robert Downey Jr. was a perfect Sherlock Holmes. He was eccentric, smart, observant yet caring. He is everything I imagined Sherlock Holmes would be. It was a great part for Downey and he did it very well, which is why he is nominated for a golden globe for this role. Jude Law was great as the straight man, Doctor Watson. His timing is perfect and the chemistry between the actors is perfect and works well. They make a great cinematic team and it shows up on screen and makes this film work. Rachel McAdams plays the pretty criminal that is Holmes past girlfriend now nemesis. She does a good job. Mark Strong plays our bad guy Lord Blackwood. He has the look and gives a decent performance. Kelly Reilly plays Mary, Watson’s fiancée’. She does a good job–although they could have done something about her look. She looks all washed out throughout the whole film. She does a good job with the acting; she just doesn’t look the part. But overall I thought the acting was well done.

Overall this is a great film, although it does drag a bit. It didn’t quite keep me interested the whole time–I think they lost me in the details somewhere, but the action in the film will bring you back again. It has an actual story with a really good plot which is something you don’t see very often. The cinematography in this movie is great–they spent some time planning this film out and it comes out lovely on screen. And the acting is really good. It is just a really good entertaining movie. Give it a try-I don’t think you will be sorry you did.


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