Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Summary:
Detective Sherlock Holmes’ faithful companion, Dr. Watson, is retiring from solving cases to settle down with his soon-to-be fiancee, Mary. He just needs to finish up one last case. Lord Blackwell murdered five young women in occult ceremonies. Watson pronounces him dead at his hanging, but then he seems to come back to life. Watson and Holmes spring into action to solve the case, but things become more complicated when Holmes’ ex-girlfriend, Irene, shows up.
Review:
I’d be hard-pressed to not enjoy a movie Robert Downey Jr. is in, particularly one in which he does a bunch of fist-fighting. Toss in Jude Law, and you’d have to do an awful lot wrong for me to not enjoy sitting through the movie. When the mystery first came up, I found myself rolling my eyes at yet another Illuminati plot point. However, the resolution of the mystery made the entire story worth-while. It was actually a surprise and yet all still managed to make sense.
The feel of the movie reminded me a bit of Moulin Rouge, minus the music parts. So if you enjoy that sort of tongue-in-cheek period piece, you’ll enjoy the feel of this movie.
The only part of the film I really didn’t enjoy was the bit about Irene. It wasn’t explained well at all. I couldn’t understand her character’s motivation or really exactly what was going on with her at all. I like Rachel McAdams, but I felt that her appearance in this story was simply jarring.
That said, Sherlock Holmes is an enjoyable period piece romp with a brain-tingling mystery attached. If you enjoy mystery or period pieces with wit, you will enjoy this film.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
Leave a Reply
This work by Amanda Nevius is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Opinions of a Wolf 
A long time after the fact, but I am so with you on Irene. Love Rachel McAdams, but felt that plotline was by far the weakest in the story. Wish they could have played it like the love story between Holmes and Watson it clearly was.
Oh my yes. The homoeroticism was strong there. Why on earth else would Holmes be so upset about Watson dating Mary? It seemed that Watson’s quitting was a response to Holmes being upset, not vice versa.
I really enjoyed this film…but as you mentioned I too enjoy anything with Robert Downey Jnr in it 😉
Can’t say I took too much offence to the character of Irene, she was just well blah lol except when she tied him to the bed with only a pillow to cover is dignity hilaaaaarious. I don’t want Holmes to be gay merely because then he wouldn’t be interested in me!
While I much prefer a world in which Holmes (and Watson) are straight, I definitely think the writers got their wires a bit crossed here since they never told us why Holmes and Watson were fighting, combined with the completely unbelievable “romance” with Irene. However! That’s more of a critique on the writing of Irene than anything else. If you write a female character for RDJ’s love interest and I’m left wondering if he’s got a secret guy/guy thing on the side, that’s some bad writing, lol. 🙂