IMDB Plot Synopsis: Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
- I fell asleep at least six times in the first hour, it was kind of amazing. I could blame Christmas turkey coma, but I think that is giving the movie too much credit.
- I liked Holmes as a gritty, hands-on investigator who really gets down and dirty with his cases, but really could have done without all the explosions that accompanied this back-to-basics approach to the character. Michael Bay seems to be extending his tentacles further and further these days, and now he’s officially infiltrated the 19th century. I am equal parts appalled and in awe at this. I think they missed the opportunity to make this a straight up crime thriller by trying to also make it an absolutely unnecessary action film.
- Robert Downey Jr.’s accent was somewhat dubious but he was otherwise enjoyable.
- Jude Law was quite wonderful. It makes me sad that the poor choices he often makes in his personal life seem to overshadow his otherwise above average skills.
- Rachel McAdams was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, wow. Her Not British but not regular speaking voice was distracting. Her character sounds great on paper — she’s independent and highly skilled in the ways of crime and double-crossing, proving to be a formidable opponent/ally (depending on the situation) to Holmes — but she ended up so very… bland. I didn’t care terribly much about her motivations or her history with Holmes.
- I really like Mark Strong so I was incredibly depressed to find him portraying such a ridiculously cardboard villain. Lord Blackwood is evil and puts spells on people! He is hanged but then comes back from the dead to terrorize London! He has a secret society that will overtake parliament and establish a new British Empire for the next thousand years! Except, predictably, he has no magical powers (SHOCK!) and is using a variety of illusions and tricks to convince people he does. If The Prestige (and to a lesser degree The Illusionist) hadn’t been so big several years ago, this wouldn’t have been so bothersome.
- Speaking of which, secret societies and magical powers do not make for engaging plot lines unless it’s Harry Potter. Every time the story returned to unravelling the mysteries around Blackwood, I lost a significant amount of interest. It’s a bit of a let down because I loved the dynamic between Holmes and Watson, I just wish there was something less ridiculous for them to be investigating so that when we do see them interacting, it’s part of a richer story. The plot seemed solely to exist to set up the sequel that Guy Ritchie definitely thinks he’ll get to make, which is a shame because it’s all very silly and only seems to serve the purpose of getting to the last fifteen minutes of the film where they start laying on the “P.S. Moriarty is the puppet master” stuff that gets laid on so thickly.
- I had read that 221B Baker Street was the same set as Number 12 Grimmauld Place, but I forgot to notice. I’m sure they’ve dressed it differently so that you wouldn’t notice, but then again Holmes seems to live in decrepit squalor and mess which suggests to me they could have left everything as is. I bet Ma Black is somewhere on his walls.
- I was quite happy they mentioned Holmes’ brother Mycroft.
- The CGI was bad. I think they were going for a late 19th century dirty London look but instead of coming across as a choice to go for an extremely stylistic look (like Sweeney Todd or the start of Moulin Rouge!) it just looked like bargain basement special effects.
- Loved the closing credits. I like this trend of people paying more attention to these things.
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