A re-imagination of the world’s most popular detective, Sherlock Holmes follows the story of Holmes (Downey, Jr.), his loyal friend Dr. John Watson (Law), and Holmes’ rival/master thief Irene Adler (McAdams) in a mystery involving the powerful Lord Blackwood (Strong), who seems to have risen up from the dead to cast an aura of terror over London. Director Guy Ritchie teams up with a solid cast of stars to bring the classic characters to life for a new audience.

I initially had a few concerns about how they could bring Sherlock Holmes’ to the big screen without it being too “talky” or awkward (like the Da Vinci Code and its sequel), but I should have known better.

Guy Ritchie is known for his British caper films, such as Snatch, or the more recent RocknRolla, and he brings his style to the film. He is able to balance his fast-paced, action-oriented style with the investigation of the case that Holmes is trying to solve.

The acting is just excellent. Just like he did for Tony Stark in Iron Man, Robert Downey, Jr. (henceforth referred to as RDJ) completely took over the character of Sherlock Holmes.

The legendary detective’s eccentricity and genius are at full display, and makes Holmes such a charismatic character. He’s not as gaunt or lean as I imagined, but RDJ works for the fight scenes (and boy, do the fight scenes work!)

This isn’t your image of the deerstalker-cap-wearing-Holmes, but a more realistic Holmes, if you will. This Sherlock Holmes is an effective fighter while being a deductive genius. Any character who is that smart has to be a bit eccentric, and RDJ plays the character to perfection.

But I have to admit, I was already expecting an excellent performance from RDJ, after watching him in Iron Man and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It was Jude Law’s turn as his loyal friend Dr. Watson that was perhaps more surprising. I’m a Jude Law fan, but his Watson is easily one of his best characters. Far from the bumbling sidekick popularized in the old 30s/40s films and ingrained in pop culture, this Watson is more like the original character that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote.

He’s no mere sidekick! I guess people have this perception of a doctor being a scholarly fellow, but this doctor is a war veteran. Watson serves as a foil, someone emotional and very human, to Holmes’ detached and logical detective. The doctor also opens a can of whoop-ass in the movie, holding his own in a fight. The chemistry and dynamic between them just works. You get the sense of friendship between the two, and how they play off each others personalities.

Mark Strong, who always appears in Guy Ritchie’s films, is regal and evil as Lord Blackwood. Strong’s presence commands attention, and he is able to channel that mysterious aura that envelopes the case that Holmes is trying to crack. Even though Strong has appeared in a lot of movies, he appears as very different characters, a testament to his acting skills. Recently, he was Septimus, the last brother in Stardust, and the smooth hitman Archie in RocknRolla.
The weakest link in the cast is Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, who, while solid, was not spectacular. Still, she did an excellent job of playing the role of the dangerous thief, the only one who has confounded Holmes.

The rest of the supporting cast was solid. Of note are Eddie Marsan as the bumbling Inspector LeStrade, who always seems to arrive at the scene of the crime too late, and Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan, Watson’s love interest. The latter was a bit understated, and she seemed too much like a baddie hiding a secret for my taste, but that’s just me.

The film boasts of a truly awesome score by Hans Zimmer, which set the mood for key scenes excellently. Known for his scores on recent blockbusters such as the Pirates of the Carribean series, The Dark Knight and classics such as The Lion King, Zimmer was able to compose music that excited me at every turn, and lent the film with the proper aura of the setting and the story.

The filmmakers managed to create the world of the 1800s into far from a dark and dreary place. The world of Sherlock Holmes, dark as it may be, is still quite lively and full of characters, lending the mystery film a bit of a lighter tone. Ritchie utilizes slow motion and sped up action scenes, but unlike other films where they just feel overused, they are perfect for this movie. Holmes’ “breaking down the opponent” action scenes were especially amazing (it’s so hard to explain in words - you have to watch it to capture the awesomeness!). The action movie flair of the film, with explosions and chases, doesn’t detract from the plot, which moves along at a perfect pace. Though it clocks in at 128 minutes (2 hours+), it totally didn’t feel like it.

With an excellent combination of great plot, great acting, great visuals, great music, and most importantly - and this is key - excellent storytelling, Sherlock Holmes is a complete entertainment package for me. It’s definitely great to start the year right with a great movie, and you can’t go wrong with this one.

*Thanks to Eula for the Holmes/Watson pic!