Movie: Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, begins with the famous detective catching an occultist criminal named Lord Blackwood. A few years in the future, Blackwood is finally about to be hanged, and Watson is about to leave Baker Street to be with his fiancee, Mary. As the movie progresses, Holmes immerses himself in both problems, trying to solve the mystery of Blackwood's reanimation and trying to keep Watson close to him, and away from his wife. They're assisted, and foiled, by the scandalous Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) and Inspector Lestrade. The movie is a perfect balance of drama, action, and mystery.

Okay, first thing's first. This isn't the lame-o nerd with the hunting cap and magnifying glass you grew up with. This is the REAL Sherlock Holmes, and the REAL John Watson. Holmes isn't a condescending snob, and Watson isn't a complete and utter dumbass, because they were never really like that in the original stories. The figures of Holmes and Watson that we see in pop culture today were cultivated by the public, not based on the characters in the stories. Guy Ritchie gets back to basics with this movie. Holmes is an intelligent, but rather dependent man, fond of boxing and user of various drugs, most often morphine and cocaine. Watson is more than his sidekick; the two men need each other more than they can possibly imagine. And that's why I think that this movie wasn't as well-received as it could have been. The audience walked in expecting a kick-ass action movie, and they realized as the movie progressed that the movie didn't focus on the action at all. There was the mystery, of course (it wouldn't be Sherlock Holmes without it) but the main focal point of the movie was to analyze the relationship between Watson and Holmes, something that isn't often done.

So fans of action-packed, gory, edge-of-your-seat movies will lay back and snore, while those of us with more intellectual tastes will give this film a standing ovation.